HF Honored as Asia's Best Covered Bond Issuer for Third Consecutive Year
- Date 2020-12-22
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HF Honored as Asia’s Best Covered Bond Issuer for Third Consecutive Year
- HF recognized for issuing Euro social covered bond in response to negative interest rates and the COVID-19 pandemic
Korea Housing Finance Corporation (HF, CEO Lee Jung-Hwan) stated on the 22nd that two HF euro social covered bonds were awarded the 2020 Asia’s Best Social Bond Prize by the Asset*, one of the World’s leading financial publications, and the 2020 Asia’s Best Structured Finance Deal Prize by Global Capital**, respectively. HF issued the two bonds this year.
* Hong Kong-based Asia-Pacific financial publication
** global financial publication owned by Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC
The Asset highly regarded HF for issuing EUR 1 billion of euro-denominated covered bonds with a 5-year maturity at a yield below 0% last February as the first non-European financial institution to do so and thereby successfully raising the fund of government-sponsored mortgages for greater housing stability among low-income families in the nation. At the same time, Global Capital recognized HF with the award for issuing Asia’s first social covered bonds (EUR 500 million of social covered bonds with a 5-year maturity) last July after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the two prizes, HF has been honored with Asia’s Best Covered Bond Prize by The Asset for three consecutive years since 2018 and with Asia’s Best Structured Financial Deal by Global Capital for the first time since its covered bond issuance began in 2010.
HF CEO Lee Jung-Hwan said, “Our market development and expansion efforts in Europe, which is the birthplace of covered bonds, have led to this recognition and appreciation as a leading covered bond issuer in Asia. We expect that our bonds will be able to contribute to boosting covered bond issuance in the banking sector by serving as the Korean benchmark bonds in the eurocurrency market. They will also help us raise long-term funding at relatively low interest rates, driving down housing costs for low-income families in the nation.”