UnionBank raises ₱11B in PH’s first-ever digital peso bonds

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 2) — UnionBank of the Philippines has raised ₱11 billion from its maiden digital peso bond offering — the first of its kind in the country.

In a statement Thursday, the Aboitiz-led bank said this amount is eleven times the initial minimum offer size of ₱1 billion.

UnionBank said the issuance "paves the way for future utilization of Distributed Ledger / Blockchain Technology towards more automated and operationally efficient local capital markets.”

The digital bonds were issued through the digital registry and digital repository of Philippine Depository and Trust Corp. (PDTC) using infrastructure powered by #STACS blockchain.

The new digital infrastructure was kept interoperable with the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp (PDEx) Fixed Income Market’s traditional trading to clearing infrastructure, added UnionBank.

The bonds have a maturity date of 1.5 years with a fixed per annum rate of 3.25%, and are available for trading on PDEx.

UnionBank tapped HSBC and Standard Chartered as joint lead arrangers and bookrunners for the transaction. They are also the offering’s selling agents along with the company itself.

“This pioneering issuance serves as a building block in UnionBank’s journey to embrace digitization and positive disruption in the industry. I am confident that this will be recognized globally as a game changing digital initiative in the field of finance,” said Jose Emmanuel Hilado, UnionBank treasurer and head of global markets.