Building a World Top Green and Sustainable Bond Hub

US and UK based arrangement Asia based arrangement Other US and UK based arrangement Asia based arrangement Other International Bond Issuance in Asia in 2023 78.8% 10.7% 10.5% 44.9% 27.1% 28.0% 14 Hong Kong’s Transition Towards a Green and Sustainable Finance Center: Building a World Top Green and Sustainable Bond Hub 2.2 Hong Kong’s Flourishing International Green and Sustainable Bond Market The US and the UK accounted for a combined share of about 80% in 2006 and were the main locations of arrangement for international bond issuance from Asian issuers. This percentage dropped to about 45% in 2023, mostly due to the rise of Asian financial centers as hubs for international bond transactions. In 2006, the share of Asia-based arrangements was about 10%; this number grew to 28% in 2023 (Figure 7). According to the ICMA report, the share of Asia-based arrangements increased to 30-40% over the past four years, surpassing the combined share of the US and UK during this period. With the rising trend of Asian financial centers, mandates for international bond issuance from Asian issuers were also increasingly granted to banks located in Asia, especially in Hong Kong. This growth has largely correlated with the rise of Hong Kong as a global offshore RMB business center and hub for Chinese international issuance. Over the last decade, Hong Kong has consistently ranked as the number one location for arranging international bond issuance from Asian issuers, except in 2023 primarily due to a decline in Chinese international issuance. Figure 7: Main Locations of Arrangement for International Bond Issuance from Asian Issuers (Source: By the research team based on data from the ICMA) Mirroring the pattern in international bonds from Asia, between 2013 and 2023, over 95% of international sustainable bonds from Asian issuers were listed, for which Luxembourg was the most popular country for listing between 2016 and 2017, and hosted 40% on average. It was succeeded by Singapore and Hong Kong in the following years and their combined contribution amounted to almost 70% on average between 2018 and 2023 (Figure 8). International Bond Issuance in Asia in 2006