Linklaters advises on bond offerings under the newly launched direct settlement and trading link between Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR

Linklaters acted as international legal advisor on the first ever bond issuances under the newly launched CMU-MCSD link – a direct settlement and trading link between the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) operated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the central securities depository operated by Macau Central Securities Depository and Clearing Limited (MCSD). The issuances included advising:

• Bank of China Limited, Macau Branch, on its RMB 1bn 2-year Fixed Rate Notes issued under its US$40bn medium term note programme (the “BOC Macau issuance”); and
• Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Macau Branch, on its US$250m 3-year Floating Rate Notes issued under its US$20bn global medium term note programme (the “ICBC Macau issuance”).

Both series of notes are listed on Chunghwa (Macau) Financial Asset Exchange Co., Ltd. and issued to investors in Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR.

Under the CMU-MCSD link, participants of the CMU or MCSD will be able to transfer, settle and hold debt instruments held in the other system through their existing CMU or MCSD accounts. The recent launch of the CMU-MCSD link enables investors from both markets to participate in each other’s bond market with greater ease and efficiency, marking another milestone in the financial cooperation in the Greater Bay Area.

The BOC Macau issuance was led by Linklaters’ capital markets partner Michael Ng, with support from solicitors Jenny Sun and Xie Xie. The ICBC Macau issuance was led by capital markets partners Terence Lau and Min Fang.

Linklaters is at the forefront of all the major milestone developments in the Macau bond market, advising on many landmark transactions since the first RMB sovereign bond issuance by the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China (MOF) in Macau in 2019. The firm has advised on the first public bond offering by ICBC Macau following the launch of Macau’s bond issuance registration system; the first MCSD-cleared bond offering by BOC Macau and BOCOM Macau Branch; as well as all the sovereign bond issuances in Macau by the MOF and the Guangdong Provincial Government.