HKMC's HK$12 billion inaugural public digital bond issuance
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited (HKMC) today (June 11) announced the successful pricing of its inaugural digital bonds totalling approximately HK$12 billion equivalent (Issuance) under its US$30 billion Medium Term Note Programme. Following a series of effective pre-marketing exercises and investor roadshows, the bonds were successfully book-built and priced in Hong Kong on June 10, 2026.
This landmark transaction marks the largest-ever digital bond issuance globally to date, underscoring the deep market liquidity and accelerating adoption by institutional investors. With the Issuance, the HKMC also becomes the first public sector entity in Hong Kong to issue digital bonds. In addition, the 5-year Hong Kong dollar (HKD) tranche represents the longest tenor ever for an HKD-denominated digital bond, setting a new benchmark in the HKD bond market.
The triple-tranche digital bond issuance comprises HK$6 billion 2-year, HK$2.5 billion 5-year and CNH 3 billon 3-year digital bonds. Building on the successful digital bond issuance mechanism adopted by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government), the Issuance was well received by a diverse group of high-quality institutional investors. These included local, Southbound Bond Connect and international institutional investors, spanning multilateral development bank, central bank, banks, private banks, insurance and asset management companies. The Issuance attracted a combined peak orderbook of around HK$24 billion equivalent from more than 100 accounts.
The digital bonds are digitally created on a distributed ledger technology platform operated by the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), which also serves as the clearing and settlement system for the digital bonds.
The Issuance marks a significant milestone on the HKMC's digital finance journey. Key features include issuing the bonds in a digitally native format for greater operational efficiency, providing investors the option to access via the existing CMU infrastructure and linkage to Euroclear and Clearstream, and successfully shortening the settlement cycle from five business days to three business days.
Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Executive Director of the HKMC Mr Howard Lee said, "By launching tokenised fixed income products and driving market innovation, the HKMC demonstrates its unwavering support for the HKSAR Government's strategic roadmap to cement Hong Kong's position as a global fixed income and currency hub. This landmark digital bond issuance helps deepen Hong Kong's digital asset ecosystem and accelerate the adoption of tokenisation technology in the fixed income market, inspiring a wider range of issuers, investors, intermediaries and other industry stakeholders to embrace this innovative financial instrument."
Executive Director and the Chief Executive Officer of the HKMC, Mr Colin Pou, said, "Through our effective pre-marketing exercises and roadshows to the investing community, the inaugural digital bonds issued by the HKMC were priced amidst strong market reception. This milestone highlights the growing participation from arranging banks and first-time digital bond investors. It reinforces Hong Kong's distinctive role in bridging traditional finance with the digital asset era. Moving forward, the HKMC will continue to leverage its strengths to further develop the local bond market."
The HKMC highly appreciates the professional advice and tremendous support from the Joint Global Coordinators, Joint Bookrunners, and Joint Lead Managers which comprised a total of 16 local and international financial institutions, in making a success of the Issuance. The full list of participating financial institutions is set out at the Annex.
Source: AI-found images
