On July 4, Bond Connect Company Limited (BCCL) and China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) jointly launched the Northbound primary service for China Interbank Bond Market (CIBM). The service allows offshore investors to participate in the Northbound subscription of CIBM new issuances with onshore underwriters through the connectivity between BCCL's ePrime, a one-stop electronic platform for bond primary deals in the offshore market, and the iDeal system of CFETS.

 

The Northbound primary service aims to facilitate global investors to tap the CIBM by providing a primary market investment channel in a more efficient and safer way. Offshore investors can place subscription orders straight into the orderbook of onshore underwriters via ePrime. Onshore underwriters and offshore investors can leverage the digital allocation confirmation ticket embedded in the service and get rid of the tedium in signing distribution agreements manually.

 

The service was launched smoothly today, attracting 36 offshore investors to sign up ePrime. Among them, 27 offshore investors were the first to participate and have completed 42 primary transactions, bringing the total subscription amount to 1.22 billion RMB. The subject bonds include policy financial bonds issued by China Development Bank, Agricultural Development Bank of China, and Export-Import Bank of China, green financial bond issued by Xiamen Bank, and super short-term commercial papers issued by Guangzhou Metro and Petro China, etc.

President of CFETS and Chairperson of BCCL Zhang Yi said: "The Northbound primary service digitalizes the entire workflow of cross-border bond underwriting and distribution, enhancing the efficiency of offshore investors’ investment in China’s bond market. It further promotes the synergy between the primary and secondary bond markets and serves to build a high-level financial market opening-up."

 

Under the backdrop of the bilaterally opening-up of China's bond market and the internationalization of RMB, BCCL will strive to provide more quality services for the CIBM and Hong Kong bond market.

 

BCCL ePrime system is an electronic bond issuance system launched in October 2020, developed and operated by CFETS. ePrime global issuance service offers a one-stop solution for issuing, primary book building, pricing and allocation for offshore securities including US dollar-denominated bonds, Renminbi bonds, Hong Kong dollar bonds and other currencies. It has successfully supported various issuances from policy banks and commercial banks and onboarded 28 offshore underwriters. ePrime Northbound primary service allows offshore investors to participate in the Northbound subscription of CIBM new issuances by establishing connectivity with CFETS systems.