A&O advises on the HKSAR Government’s inaugural issuance of HKD-denominated tokenised* green bond

This also marks the first tokenised¹ green bond issued by a government globally and the first use case of cash tokens issued by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (the HKMA), which represent fiat monies claim against the HKMA, in settlement and payment in capital markets transaction. The bonds are governed by Hong Kong law and the proceeds from the issuance will be used to finance and/or refinance eligible projects under the HKSAR Government’s Green Bond Framework.

The A&O team was led by partner Agnes Tsang in Hong Kong alongside partner Jaclyn Yeap and associates Gordon Ng, Hysan Chan and Erica Lo.

Agnes Tsang commented: “We are honoured to have advised HKSAR Government on this landmark tokenised* green bond. The usage of tokenisation has huge potential and this transaction paves the way for the development of Hong Kong’s digital economy.”

Footnotes

_{1. where the beneficial interests in the green bond are recorded on issue date in the tokenised securities accounts on a distributed ledger technology-based digital assets platform.}