6th Silver Bond Batch Announced

The Government today announced the launch of the sixth batch of Silver Bond for subscription by eligible citizens. The target issuance size is $24 billion, with a tenor of three years.

At a press conference today, Monetary Authority Executive Director Clara Chan outlined two major changes to the new batch of Silver Bond compared with last year.

First, the eligible age will be lowered from 65 to 60, meaning that citizens who hold a valid Hong Kong identity card and born in 1962 or before may subscribe.

Second, the target issuance size will be increased from $10 billion to $24 billion. Considering market conditions, the Government may exercise discretion to increase the issuance size to a maximum of $30 billion.

“These two changes aim to benefit more people by way of the insurance of Silver Bond,” Ms Chan said.

Bond holders will be paid interest once every six months at a rate linked to Hong Kong’s inflation, subject to a minimum rate of 3.5%. As there will be no secondary market for the bond, bond holders may sell their bonds before maturity to the Government at par together with accrued but unpaid interest.

A maximum allocation amount of $1 million per investor will be imposed, ie each investor will be allocated 100 units of retail bond at most.

The subscription period will start from 9am on July 20 and end at 2pm on July 30. Eligible applicants may apply through one of the 20 placing banks and 24 designated securities brokers. The bond will be issued on August 10.

“We strongly encourage investors to submit their subscriptions by telephone or e-channels for the sake of social distancing,” Ms Chan added.