HDFC Bank lists $1-billion AT-1 bonds on IFSC exchanges at GIFT

Leading private sector lender HDFC Bank on Thursday listed its USD 1 billion additional tier- I (AT-1) bonds on the IFSC (International Financial Services Centre) exchanges at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT).

"The primary listing of HDFC AT 1 bond demonstrates the competitiveness of both the IFSC exchanges --India INX and NSE IFSC internationally," Manoj Kumar, Executive Director, IFSCA said.

According to him, this is a major milestone for GIFT IFSC in onshoring offshore financial services for Indian entities. IFSCA envisions that the recently notified regulations on issuance and listing of securities will enable more financial instruments to be listed and traded in this jurisdiction.

"We along with our regulator IFSCA have an endeavour to provide the issuers with a comprehensive and seamless issuance and listing process at par with best global practices and hope to onboard more and more issuers on our platform in the near future," V Balasubramaniam, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer, India INX, said in a statement.

The Global Securities Market (GSM) platform, the primary market platform of India INX, has evoked significant interest since its establishment in 2018. Medium-term notes worth over USD 55 billion and bonds to the tune of over USD 28 billion have been listed on the platform till date.

Last week, HDFC Bank had said it raised USD 1 billion in its maiden AT1 bond issue from global investors at tight pricing, in a deal that will help allay fears over the capital raising instrument for lenders in the country.

The lender managed to get final pricing of 3.7 per cent on the coupon as against the initial guidance of 4.125 per cent.