Linklaters advised The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) as lead manager on the inaugural digital bond issuance by Mirae Asset Securities Co., Ltd., representing the first digital bond issuance in Korea.
The issuance comprised US dollar and Hong Kong dollar denominated tranches, raising a total of approximately KRW 100bn (US$70.1m) equivalent. The bonds were issued in a digitally native format using HSBC Orion*, HSBC’s tokenisation platform linked to the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU). Linklaters’ cross‑jurisdictional team assisted on the structuring of the transaction and the seamless settlement of the bonds through CMU.
The team was led by Seoul-based capital markets partner Daniel Kwon, and Hong Kong SAR-based capital markets partner Hanwen Yu, with support from Jaewon Chang and Lily Wang, as well as Kane Sun from Zhao Sheng Law Firm, Linklaters’ joint operation firm in China. Linklaters’ independent trustee team acted as adviser to the fiscal agent, led by capital markets counsel Beibei Ding.
Daniel Kwon, Linklaters partner and Head of Korea Capital Markets, commented:
“We are delighted to have advised on Korea’s first digital bond issuance. It marks a significant step in the digital evolution of Korea’s capital markets and demonstrates how digital infrastructure can enhance cross-border capital efficiency. We are well positioned to support our clients in their digital transformation.”
Hanwen Yu, capital markets partner at Linklaters in Hong Kong, commented:
“This landmark deal is a testament to the strength of Hong Kong’s role as a leading digital finance hub in Asia and is a step forward for broader adoption of digital capital raising models. We are grateful for the trust clients have placed in us and we look forward to working together with our clients on further collaborations in this innovative space.”
With over 50 years’ experience in Hong Kong SAR and across Asia, Linklaters is at the forefront of digital innovation and provides clients with high quality, comprehensive legal support in their international capital markets transactions. Our recent deals include advising on Hong Kong SAR Government’s largest ever digital green bond offering, Qatar’s first digitally native notes issuance, and enhancements to HSBC’s market first retail gold token offering.
*HSBC Orion refers to the distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform deployed by HSBC to CMU as the DLT platform operator for the purposes of, among other things, creating and settling the digitally native notes.
