Shinhan Card Issues Taiwan's First $300 Million 'Social Formosa Bond'

Shinhan Card Issues First Formosa Bond
Receives Moody's A2 Rating

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] Shinhan Card announced on the 4th that it has issued $300 million (approximately 333 billion KRW, 5-year maturity) worth of Social Formosa Bonds through a public offering.

Following its successful issuance of the first Eurobond by a card company in October last year, Shinhan Card expanded its funding sources and broadened its investor base by successfully issuing the first Social Formosa Bonds listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

In this subscription, 40% of the orders came from Taiwan, 59% from other parts of Asia, and the remaining 1% from Europe, with 90 institutional investors worldwide participating, resulting in orders totaling approximately $2 billion, about seven times the amount raised. The funds raised will be used to support financially vulnerable groups such as low-credit and low-income individuals.

Additionally, based on Shinhan Card’s status as the number one card company in Korea and its excellent financial soundness, the bonds received an A2 rating from the international credit rating agency Moody’s, representing the highest credit rating in the industry. Thanks to strong demand, the final spread was set at 70 basis points, 35 basis points lower than the initially proposed spread (initial guidance 105bp), making it the lowest rate issuance in the industry.

BNP Paribas, HSBC, and Soci?t? G?n?rale participated as lead managers for this bond, which is simultaneously listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Singapore Stock Exchange, allowing investors to easily trade the bonds.

A Shinhan Card official stated, “By achieving successful fundraising in the bond markets of Taiwan as well as Asia and Europe, we have once again enhanced our international recognition, expanded our investor base, and diversified our borrowing channels. Issued at the lowest spread among overseas bonds by card companies, this issuance is expected to have a positive impact on future Korean bond issuances by credit card companies in global bond markets, including Taiwan.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.