29 January 2024, Makati, Philippines — BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO) returns to the local organized debt market with the listing of its PHP 63.3 Billion ASEAN Sustainability Bonds, the largest single bond issuance from the private sector. The bond carries a coupon rate of 6.025% p.a., to be paid on a quarterly basis.

PDEx President & CEO Antonino A. Nakpil in his welcome remarks said: “Today’s issuance exceeds USD 1.0 Billion by equivalence and is impressive even by global standards. BDO’s activity in thematic bonds extends to its global issuances as we note that it was the first bank to issue a Blue Bond of USD 100 MM to the International Finance Corporation in 2022, and that was before the SEC formalized its own ASEAN Blue Bond Standards last year.”

SEC Commissioner Kelvin Lester K. Lee also graced the event and said: “This is a monumental occasion in my opinion as this marks the latest ASEAN Sustainability Bond Offering in the Philippines under the ASEAN Sustainable Bonds Guidelines issued by the SEC in collaboration with ASEAN.”

“With this PHP 63.3 Billion ASEAN Sustainability Bonds listing, BDO also demonstrates its further commitment and confidence in the growth of the Philippine economy and its contribution to the number of available sustainable investments in the Philippine debt capital markets.”, Commissioner Lee further added.

BDO EVP & Chief of Staff L. Jerome Guevarra also expressed his appreciation for the outcome of this issuance. He said: “There is one factor that is different with a bank as an issuer especially with debt securities. In the case of BDO, as the largest bank, our investors are also our clients, so we don’t only deal with them every time we go to the market for funding, we deal with them on a daily basis. If somebody is to ask what our secret is in actually producing this much, this is really the strength of our relationship with our clients and [they] are the ones who make these things happen.”

This 1st listing of PHP 63.3 Billion for 2024, brings the total level of tradable corporate debt instruments to PHP 1.29 trillion issued by 46 companies, comprised of 177 securities.