Manila, Sep 14 (DPA) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday launched a $10 billion Asian currency note programme that would serve as the first regional platform dedicated to issuances of bonds in regional currencies.
The programme is Asia's first multi-currency bond platform since the 1997 Asian financial crisis that links the domestic capital markets of Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as later Malaysia and Thailand," the Manila-based ADB said.
Under the scheme, Asian currency bonds are issued in their domestic markets under a single unified framework with a common set of documents governed by English law, the bank said.
For the programme's inaugural issue, ADB said it was floating 300 million Singapore dollars of five-year notes and 1-billion Hong Kong dollars of three-year notes to be printed before the end of the week.
ADB said it also plans to issue 6.5 billion baht of five-year and 10-year bonds shortly once approvals are obtained.
"The programme is a significant milestone for Asian capital market development and for ADB," ADB Vice President Khempheng Pholsena said.
ADB Treasurer Mikio Kashiwagi said the programme would allow regional and global issuers to simultaneously tap bond markets in the region expeditiously and contribute significantly to the deepening of bond markets in Asia.