Standard Chartered extends expertise in fund raising

MANILA, Philippines — Standard Chartered Bank aims to help governments and companies raise more funds to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bank continues to be the market leader for Philippine peso-denominated bonds with record volumes leading to 10 deals in the country valued at P140 billion.

Standard Chartered Bank Philippines chief executive officer Lynette Ortiz said the bank’s leadership in the debt capital markets space could be attributed to its comprehensive product suite, robust coverage model and underwriting and distribution capacity across all debt products.

“Access to the capital markets is an important enabler of economic growth.  Standard Chartered Bank has been fortunate to have managed and arranged 24 bond deals in 2020, thanks to the trust of our esteemed clients and our local and global franchise that has delivered the best outcomes for our clients,” Ortiz said.

Aaron Gwak, head of capital markets in ASEAN at Standard Chartered Bank, said the bank would continue to help clients tap the bond markets and contribute to the deepening of their investor base.

“Amidst market volatility brought about by the pandemic, Standard Chartered Bank’s capital markets franchise has deepened further, having supported new and existing clients achieve their funding goals in the bond markets,” Gwak said.

Amid the global health pandemic, the bank helps drive economic growth by supporting liquidity and shoring up investor sentiment.

It raised a total of $36 billion in financing for its clients across the region, improving its market position as the leading foreign bank in ASEAN local currency bonds and ranked third in ASEAN G3 (European Union, US, and Japan) league table for the third consecutive year with a 43.1 percent increase in its share of deal-apportioned volumes.

The bank is also one of the leading bookrunners in the G3 space for Philippine issuers as it participated in 16 out of the 25 transactions in 2020.

Standard Chartered Bank also promotes sustainable finance to support economic growth, expanding renewables financing and investing in sustainable infrastructure where it is needed most.

The bank has been involved in several environmental, social and governance (ESG) – themed bonds in the region such as Indonesia’s sovereign bonds where the proceeds were used for COVID-19 relief efforts and the maiden issuances of sustainability and green bonds in Thailand and Philippines.

A strong partner to government banks in the Philippines, Standard Chartered Bank was the   sole arranger for the return of state-run Land Bank of the Philippines to the capital markets.

It was also the sole issue manager and joint lead arranger of the second drawdown of government-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) from its peso bond program.

The bank also supported the Philippine government in all three landmark international capital market issuances and assisted them to achieve the tightest spread and largest issuance to date.

These efforts highlight the bank’s commitment to support key clients such as governments, private institutions, and banks to monitor the capital markets and seize opportunities to help raise strategic capital through these challenging times.