30 August, 2016
Allen & Overy has advised the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Poland on its issue of RMB3 billion panda bonds, the first European sovereign to issue a CNY-denominated bonds in China’s domestic capital markets and Poland’s first CNY-denominated issuance. The bonds were underwritten by Bank of China Limited and HSBC Bank (China) Company Limited.
The A&O team was co-led by Warsaw-based International Capital Markets partner Piotr Lesinski together with Hong Kong-based of Counsel Agnes Tsang. They were supported by Lukasz Walczyna, Alice Leung, Tian Tian Wang and Cammy Man.
Commenting on the transaction, Piotr said: “We are very pleased to have advised the Republic of Poland on this significant transaction. It’s been an extremely interesting bond issuance.”
Adding, Agnes said: “The panda bond market is still in development stages as regulations for these issuances continue to evolve, but the sentiment is that panda bonds will continue to gain traction particularly for those foreign entities with an interest in the China market. Poland’s issuance is indicative of this and could also pave the way for further European sovereigns.”
A&O has been mandated on a number of panda bond issuances since Chinese regulators announced they would make it easier for foreign issuers to access the market last summer. Most recently we advised on Chong Hing Bank’s panda bond issue which debuted in April.
