Chinese bank Bank of Communications (BoCom) has issued a $300 million digital bond on the Orion blockchain network in Hong Kong. It is among the first lenders from mainland China to explore blockchain bonds in the city-state. The unsecured three-year bond, with a floating rate based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), is the first floating rate digital bond issued on Orion. The issuance was advised by law firms Linklaters and A&O Shearman. However, cash transactions for the bond will not be conducted on-chain. The bond received an A2 rating from Moody's, which noted that settlement and payment were conducted in fiat currency outside the blockchain. Singapore recently launched a digital bond grants scheme to compete with Hong Kong in becoming China's digital finance hub. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched the Global-Asia Digital Bond Grant Scheme to catalyze the issuance and adoption of digital bonds in Singapore. The bond must be issued and listed locally and have a minimum issuance size of $74 million to qualify for the Singapore grant.



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