The largest-ever overseas bond issuance project in Chinese banking industry, led by Bank of China Limited ("BOC"), has completed the issuance pricing and closing at the end of June 2015. This is the first bond issuance project under the theme of " Belt & Road" in the international financial market. Jingtian & Gongcheng served as the PRC legal adviser to the underwriter in this project.
The bonds issued will incur interests calculated at either fixed or floating interest rate and can be bought in four types of currency, namely, RMB, USD, EUR, and SGD. The multi-currency and diversified bonds will be simultaneously made available on five stock exchanges, namely, NASDAQ Dubai , Singapore Exchange, Gre Tai Securities Market, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and London Stock Exchange, with a total issuing scale of USD 4 billion. "Belt & Road" bonds are issued under BOC overseas Medium-term Note Plan (MTN).
The bonds will be issued by five BOC branches set up by BOC in Abu Dhabi, Hungary, Singapore, Taipei, and Hong Kong, respectively, all of which are along the "Belt & Road". The funds raised will be mainly used to meet the financial needs of branches along the "Belt & Road". This is not only innovation on the issuing method adopted by the international bond market, but also the BOC's innovation in achieving capital financing through implementation of China's "Belt & Road" strategy.
BOC "Belt & Road" bonds have evoked enthusiastic response from the international financial market, attracted the participation of global underwriters, and widely subscribed by investors in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. The issuance of BOC "Belt & Road" bonds, as the largest-ever overseas bond issuance project in Chinese banking industry, has create a number of market firsts. For example, it is the first bonds that are themed "Belt & Road" in the international financial market, and the first time to issue bonds in four currencies in five regions simultaneously. BOC has also become the first Chinese-funded commercial bank to issue floating rate Euro bonds, 10-year USD underlying bonds, 15-year RMB bonds and the most SGD bonds.
