HF Wins Grant from the Monetary Authority of Singapore

It becomes Korea’s first MAS grant-winning pubic bond issuer   

It will focus its capacity on attracting foreign MBS investors

Korea Housing Finance Corporation (HF, CEO Lee Jung-Hwan) stated on the 14th that its euro covered bonds issued last June has been selected as the final candidate for the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Asian Bond Grant Scheme.

As a result, HF received a grant of SGD 400,000, or KRW 350 million, at the awarding ceremony of the Asian Bond Grant Scheme held at Singapore Exchange.

Under the scheme, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) reimburses expenses incurred by qualifying bond issuers to stimulate the issuance of global bonds by Asia-based bond issuers.  Among foreign currency-denominated Korean public bonds, HF’s euro covered bonds became the first MAS grant winner among foreign currency-denominated Korean public bonds.

HF CEO Lee Jung-Hwan said, “We will strive to boost the liquidity and public awareness of our covered bonds by gradually increasing our issuance frequency and volume.”

On the same day, CEO Lee visited the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) and the United Overseas Bank (UOB) to sign the MOU on building a cooperative system for the advancement of MBS investment and the development of the Asian securitization and covered bond markets and to discuss the details of HF MBS investments.

An HF officer said, “The two institutions have shown interest in investing in HF’s Korean won MBS. In particular, the UOB is positively considering initiating its investment in 2020 Q1. In this line, we will focus our capacity on attracting MBS investments by foreign institutions next year.”