Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises on Bank of China's first Greater Bay Area multi-currency, multi-tranche bond deal

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance advised on Bank of China Limited's first multi-currency, multi-tranche US$1.83 billion bond deal to support the development of the Greater Bay Area in southern China. The four currency, five tranche transactions were under its US$40 billion medium term note (MTN) programme.

The proceeds from the transactions will be used to finance various loan projects in the Greater Bay Area, such as the recently-opened Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. The Greater Bay Area is a Chinese government initiative to link the cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing into an economic and business hub.

Head of Capital Markets for Asia Pacific partner Connie Heng led on the deal and was supported by consultant Mark Chan, associates Torrance Shi, Sarah Cheng and Angie Yeung, and trainee Bowie Szeto.

The team advised the managers on the following:

• Bank of China Limited, Hong Kong Branch on the issuance of its RMB1 billion 4.45% notes due 2021;
• Bank of China Limited, Hong Kong Branch on the issuance of its HK$4 billion 3.3% notes due 2020 – the largest public bond issue in the currency this year;
• Bank of China Limited, Macau Branch on the issuance of its US$550 million floating rate notes due 2021;
• Bank of China Limited, Macau Branch on the issuance of its US$250 million floating rate notes due 2023;
• Bank of China Limited, Macau Branch on the issuance of its MOP3 billion 3% notes due 2020 – the first public pataca bond issue in the offshore capital markets.

Connie said, "We are honoured to be working with Bank of China on these landmark transactions. This transaction highlights the exceptional expertise and bench strength of our market-leading Capital Markets practice."

Clifford Chance has acted in the past on Bank of China's previous issuances under its MTN programme.