What’s new: The Hong Kong government has raised HK$800 million ($102 million) from the sale of its debut digital green bond, according to an announcement on Thursday.
The one-year so-called tokenized bonds are denominated in Hong Kong dollars and bear a 4.05% coupon. All transactions of the tokens will be performed and recorded on a private blockchain, the government said.
It is the first time globally that a government has issued this type of green bond, according to the announcement. Hong Kong will use the capital raised to fund or refinance eligible green projects.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the region’s de facto central bank, plans to publish a white paper summarizing the experience learned from this issuance and providing a blueprint for issuing tokenized bonds in the city, the announcement said.
The background: Hong Kong announced its plan to pilot the issuance of tokenized green bonds during its FinTech Week in October.
The financial hub is seeking to become a center for digital-asset trading, with plans to set up a licensing scheme for virtual-asset service providers as well as rules for retail investors to trade digital assets, according to a policy statement released on Oct. 31.
Contact reporter Zhang Yukun (yukunzhang@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
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