Press release

Government announces subscription and allocation results of Silver Bond

The Government announced today (August 10) the subscription and allocation results of the first Silver Bond, issued under the retail part of the Government Bond Programme.

According to the subscription information submitted by Placing Banks, as at the close of the subscription period at 2 pm on August 3, 2016, a total of 76,009 valid applications were received for a total of HK$8,931,240,000 in principal amount of bonds.

The final issue amount is HK$3 billion. Allocation is made in accordance with the mechanism set out in the Issue Circular dated July 15, 2016. The valid applications received have been allocated different amounts of bonds up to a maximum of five units. There are a total of 9,262 applications for four or fewer units. They will be allocated the full amounts applied for. The remaining 66,747 valid applications (i.e. those applying for more than four units) will be allocated four units each and then entered into a ballot. Of these applications, 6,675 will be allocated one additional unit.

The Silver Bond will be issued on August 12, 2016. Notifications on individual allocation results, applicable subscription moneys and amounts of any refund of application moneys will be made by the Placing Banks in accordance with the schedule set out in the Issue Circular.

A Government spokesman said, “The response to the first Silver Bond is satisfactory. We believe that this pilot scheme provides an investment product with steady returns for senior residents in Hong Kong, and at the same time encourages financial institutions to tap into the immense potential of this ‘silver market’ by introducing a wider spectrum of appropriate products.”

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