The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has issued a tranche of digital green bonds using the International Capital Markets Association’s Bond Data Taxonomy.
This bond issue is the first adoption of the ICMA Bond Data Taxonomy (BDT) by a sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) issuer and the first for a green bond.
The BDT offers a standardised and machine-readable language to capture key economic terms for the bond that is normally included within the term sheet, along with pricing and settlement dates and other relevant information such as the governing law, bond ratings and selling restrictions.
ICMA notes that the Taxonomy is technology agnostic and is applicable for traditional and digital securities.
Speaking about this development, ICMA chief executive Bryan Pascoe says: ''The issuance by the HKSAR Government of digital green bonds in alignment with ICMA’s Bond Data Taxonomy marks a significant milestone to foster interoperability and facilitate scalability of DLT-based bond markets. It is also further testament to the HKSAR Government's position as a leader in capital markets development.”
HKMA deputy chief executive Darryl Chan comments: “The HKSAR Government's second digital bond issuance has made multiple innovations, including the alignment with ICMA's Bond Data Taxonomy which marks an important step in promoting automation and interoperability in capital market processes. We look forward to our continued collaboration with ICMA to enhance transparency and efficiency in markets.”
