€10tn Eurobond club admits first Chinese bank

[Sergey Golubev]

€10tn Eurobond club admits first Chinese bank

The appointment of the mainland Chinese bank is the latest step in the country opening up to international financial markets.

The China Construction Bank has become the first mainland Chinese bank to join a select group of financial institutions playing a key role underpinning the €10tn Eurobond market.

The appointment of the CCB as a “common depository” for Eurobonds by the international central securities depositories, Clearstream Banking and Euroclear Bank, marks another step in the gradual opening up of China to global financial markets.

The Chinese lender joins a list of 17 global banks and bank branches, including Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Bank of America London and DBS Bank Singapore, who are approved to act as custodians and asset servicers for Eurobonds.

Eurobonds — which can also be referred to as foreign bonds, external bonds or global bonds — are bonds offered for sale to investors outside the issuing company’s home market. Founded in 1963 with a bond issuance for Italian motorway operator Autostrade, the Eurobond market has since grown into one of the largest capital markets in the world. Eurobonds are also not to be confused with proposals for government bonds to be jointly issued by EU states.

Alan Lai, head of transaction banking at CCB, said in a statement that the bank’s aim is to “broaden the Eurobond market” to reach more companies and investors in the Asia-Pacific region, “especially new issuers and investors from the People’s Republic of China”.

Arnaud Delestienne, head of Eurobonds business at Clearstream, said the popularity of the market was increasing among issuers in growth regions, such as Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa. The appointment of China Construction Bank will facilitate “access to the international capital markets for Chinese issuers”, he said.

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