The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China ( HKSAR ) priced on September 28 its fourth digital green bond transaction in multiple currencies amounting to HK$20 billion ( US$2.55 billion ) equivalent, representing the largest digital bond issuance in the world.
Building on the three successful issuances since 2023, the latest offering reinforces the HKSAR government’s commitment in promoting innovation in the bond market.
The multi-currency offering is comprised of:
The subscription ratios across four currencies reached between 1.3 times to 11.3 times, further promoting the market adoption and broadening the investor base for digital bonds.
The Hong Kong dollar tranche garnered an order book of HK$7.2 billion from 25 accounts with 100% of the bonds sold in Asia, while the yuan tranche generated a total demand amounting to 17.7 billion yuan from 50 accounts with 100% of the paper also allocated to Asia.
The US dollar tranche attracted a total order book of US$2.2 billion from 49 accounts with 92% of the bonds distributed in Asia and 8% in Europe, the Middle East and Asia ( EMEA ). The euro tranche garnered a total demand of €926 million from 25 accounts, of which 89% of the paper was sold in Asia and 11% in EMEA.
On the back of the successful issuance and strong demand, Hong Kong’s financial secretary Paul Chan says the government will continue to issue tokenized bonds on a regular basis, expand the use cases for the underlying technologies, and harness fintech to empower the bond market’s continued development.
This issuance also continues to advance the adoption of global standards. By adopting the International Capital Market Association’s latest Bond Data Taxonomy Version 2.0, this transaction promotes greater data consistency, interoperability and end-to-end automation across the bond lifecycle.
Hong Kong’s secretary for financial services and the treasury Christopher Hui adds that the digital bond issuance will further enhance the understanding of the integration of sustainable development and fintech, while strengthening Hong Kong’s position as a leading global green and sustainable finance hub.
Hui notes that in the 2026 policy address delivered by Hong Kong chief executive John Lee on September 16, it further states that the government will work to broaden the use cases and popularize the digital bonds.
With the latest issuance of the digital bonds, David Liao, co-chief executive for Asia and the Middle East at HSBC, points out that it shows that digital bonds are evolving from an emerging concept into a scalable funding tool for issuers and investors.
“This transaction is significant not only for its scale,” he points out, “but also because it brings together the key components needed for broader adoption: choice, interoperability and practical market utility”.
A particularly significant development in the latest issuance is the connection of HSBC Orion, the digital assets platform of this offering, to EnsembleTX, facilitating interbank settlement using tokenized deposit.
Additionally, investors in both the Hong Kong dollar and yuan tranches, Liao shares, can again choose to settle using tokenized central bank money alongside traditional settlement rails in the primary issuance process.
“This demonstrates how digital assets, tokenized deposits and tokenized central bank money,” Liao adds, “can work across interoperable infrastructure to improve speed and efficiency, while allowing market participants to continue using established settlement arrangements where appropriate.”
Credit Agricole CIB, Bank of China ( Hong Kong ), BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered were the joint green and sustainable bond structuring banks for the transaction. HSBC, Bank of China ( Hong Kong ), Bank of Communications, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, ICBC ( Asia ), J.P. Morgan and Standard Chartered were the joint global coordinators, as well as the joint bookrunners and lead managers along with Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and UBS.
HSBC Orion served as the digital asset platform provided by HSBC, while Bank of China ( Hong Kong ), Bank of Communications, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, HSBC, ICBC ( Asia ) and Standard Chartered were the platform direct participants.
Among the legal advisers, A&O Shearman acted for the issuer, Ashurst Perkins Coie Hong Kong for the platform provider and Linklaters for the banks and agents.
