中国银行向美国投资者发行美元债券

Bank of China is set to become the first mainland Chinese lender to sell US dollar bonds directly to US investors, as it begins marketing Basel III-compliant debt to global fund managers.

中国银行(Bank of China)将成为首家直接向美国投资者发售美元债券的中国内地银行。该银行已开始向全球基金经理推介其符合巴塞尔协议III(Basel III)规定的一笔债券。

BoC’s bond sale, from which it is planning to raise around $3bn, will meet regulatory requirements for US investors, known as “144a”. Preliminary pricing suggests a yield of around 300 basis points over comparable US Treasuries, according to a termsheet seen by the Financial Times.

中国银行此次发债计划筹资约30亿美元，将符合针对美国投资者的监管要求，即144a规则。根据英国《金融时报》看到的一份条款清单，初步定价显示，债券收益率较可比美国国债收益率高出300个基点。

BoC is rated “A” by all three of the main rating agencies, although the bonds themselves will likely carry a “BBB+” rating due to the legal complexities involved with a Chinese company issuing debt offshore.

中国银行被全球三个主要评级机构列为“A”级，不过出于一家中国企业在海外发债所涉及的法律复杂性，此次发行的债券可能被评为“BBB+”级。

The 10-year bonds will also meet standards required for European and Asian investors, making this the first truly global deal to be sold by the main onshore arm of a Chinese bank, rather than by a subsidiary. In the past, local branches of mainland lenders in the US and other markets have raised their own US dollar debt.

这些10年期债券还将符合针对欧洲和亚洲投资者的监管标准，这令此次发债成为第一笔由一家中国银行主要境内机构（而非分支行）发行的真正全球性债券。过去都是中国内地银行在美国和其他市场的分支机构发行美元债券。

Chinese banks have been issuing debt aggressively this year as they look to diversify their funding sources and improve balance sheets ahead of new capital adequacy rules.

今年，中国各银行一直在大举发债，因为它们希望将其融资来源多样化，同时在新的资本充足率规定实施之前改善资产负债表。

Bankers and lawyers expect the sector to become the mainstay of the Asian bond markets, having been completely absent until last year.

银行人士和律师预测，中国银行业将成为亚洲债券市场的主流，而在去年之前，这个市场上还完全不见它们的身影。

Barclays estimates that the Chinese banking sector will ultimately have to raise around Rmb1tn ($160bn) over the next few years.

巴克莱(Barclays)估计，未来几年，中国银行业将最终需要融资约1万亿元人民币(合1600亿美元)。