OREANDA-NEWS. September 11, 2012. Earlier, ICBC successfully concluded an issuance of offshore Renminbi bonds in HK for all investors around the world. The issuance was 3-year senior unsecured bonds (the "bonds") for an aggregate principal amount of RMB 1 billion. The interest rate of the bonds was 3.00% per annum. The bonds, oversubscribed by 5 times, generated wild interest from investors around the world, a record high this year for Chinese banks to issue offshore RMB bonds in Hong Kong, reported the press-centre of ICBC.

At the opening of the issuance in the morning of Aug 7, subscription overpassed issuance within 3 hours. In the afternoon when the European market opened, more investors joined the fray, especially big orders from overseas institutional investors like foreign central banks and sovereignty investment funds. At the closure of the subscription, ICBC received applications for an aggregate principal amount of RMB 5 billion from over 90 investors. Due to the good response, the interest rate was finalized at 3.00%, lower than the similar types of bonds issued in Hong Kong by other banks this year.

Among the investors, 43% were overseas central banks and insurance companies, 28% were fund and asset management companies, 17% were banks, 10% were private banks, 2% were companies and other investors. In terms of where they come from, 40% from Hong Kong, 42% from Singapore, 13% from Europe and 5% from Asia. The issuance has attracted the widest base of investors from different regions, when compared to offshore RMB bonds issued by Chinese banks in Hong Kong since this year.