HSBC and Marketnode complete digital bond issuance in Singapore

By Leandra Monteiro

HSBC Singapore and Marketnode announced the completion of a digital bond issuance on Marketnode’s digital asset issuance, depository and servicing platform. Marketnode is a joint venture between Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Temasek.

HSBC said that the bond issuance was done in combination with a S$1 billion perpetual securities issue by Singtel Group Treasury, guaranteed by Singtel. The transaction is among the largest issuance on the platform to date, with the widest investor base of 123 accounts, HSBC said.

The bank also stated that the digital bond issuance was conducted alongside the traditional bond issuance process as part of SGX’s ongoing pilot to assess the use of digital assets in streamlining processes within the Asian bond market. This is the first transaction since Marketnode was announced as a joint venture in January 2021 and is the seventh issuance on its platform since August 2020 when SGX completed Asia’s first public syndicated digital bond.

According to media reports, Gavin Powell, Head of Global Markets, HSBC Singapore said, “This is a tangible step towards transforming capital markets infrastructure. The transaction demonstrates how digital assets can now be applied on a scalable and sustained level, across different bond structures and to service a wide range of investors. We are excited to continue on this journey with Temasek and our exchange partner of choice SGX, and with our clients to enable faster, more transparent, and fully secure settlements for bond issuers and investors.”

According to media reports, Arthur Lang, Group CFO of Singtel said, “Digitalisation is part and parcel of Singtel’s operations and we are pleased to support SGX’s digital asset issuance, depository and servicing platform. This pilot digital issuance shows the potential to make the issuance process faster and more transparent for our investors and for us as an issuer. We look forward to more such collaborations.”