CAF Lands HKD Debut

Regional development bank CAF has raised HKD400m ($51m) through its first-ever bond sale denominated in Hong Kong dollars. The Venezuela-based lender priced the 2022 bond at par with a 4.03% coupon. “We achieved a funding level substantially lower than our USD secondary markets and this deal represents the longest bond ever in the Hong Kong dollar bond market by a Latin America-based investor,” Gabriel Felpeto, the bank’s director of finance and capital markets, tells LatinFinance. HSBC managed the transaction. The deal follows reverse inquiry from Asian investors and an earlier November 2011 non-deal roadshow in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. CAF tapped the Swiss franc market in its last transaction in February with a CHF125m ($136m) 2-year priced at par to yield 3-month CHF Libor+125bp. A USD bond is likely in the cards this year, and the bank has said it is open to other cross-border trades, including Australian dollars.