New Development Bank successfully places RMB 2 bln Bond in China Interbank Bond Market

On July 06, 2020, the New Development Bank (NDB) successfully placed a RMB 2 bln bond in the China Interbank Bond Market, with a maturity of 5 years and a coupon rate of 3%. By issuing the Bond, the Bank completed the quota of its RMB 10 bln Bond Programme registered in January, 2019.

The final book size closed in excess of RMB 4 bln, representing an oversubscription of 2.1 times. Notably, the Bond was priced at 16 bps lower than the valuation of China Development Bank Bonds on the same day. The Bond received extraordinary support from investors, despite high volatility demonstrated by the China Interbank Bond Market, with the China Government Bond jumping quite significantly across the curve.

“We are honored by the recognition and support received from investors during the RMB 2 bln bond issuance. The final coupon rate of 3% is a remarkable achievement for the NDB, under the current market conditions. The NDB is a regular issuer in China and the Bank will continue to build its RMB bond curve,” said Mr. Leslie Maasdorp, NDB Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “The Bank is committed to actively exploring opportunities in the domestic capital markets of its member countries. We will actively participate in both onshore and offshore markets in pursuit of cost-effective sources of funding, in line with the NDB’s comprehensive funding strategy which aims to ensure that enough resources are available to meet the Bank’s liquidity needs, driven by the expanding loan portfolio, as well as operating and other expenses.”

“The NDB will continue to contribute to the development of the China Interbank Bond Market. The NDB has just submitted a request for registering the second RMB 20 bln Bond Programme to National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors,” he added.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited acted as the lead underwriter and bookrunner of the issuance. The Bank of China Limited, Agricultural Bank of China Limited and China Construction Bank Limited acted as the joint lead underwriters for the Bond.

Bond Summary Terms

Background information

In July 2016, the NDB issued its first Green Financial Bond with an issue size of RMB 3 bln and tenor of 5 years in the China Interbank Bond Market. In February 2019, the NDB issued its first Panda Bond with a size of RMB 3 bln in the China Interbank Bond Market. On April 2, 2020, the NDB successfully issued an RMB 5 bln Coronavirus Combating Bond in the China Interbank Bond Market, which became the first RMB-denominated Coronavirus Combating Bond issued by a multilateral development bank in China. As of today, the NDB has reached an RMB bond outstanding amount of RMB 13 bln.

The NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. To fulfill its purpose, the NDB will support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments. According to the NDB’s General Strategy, sustainable infrastructure development is at the core of the Bank’s operational strategy for 2017-2021. In August 2018, the Bank received AA+ long-term issuer credit ratings from S&P and Fitch.