In an effort to encourage the issuance of rated bonds in the Singapore-dollar (SGD) bond market, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched an SGD Credit Rating Grant. Over a five-year period, the grant will help unrated Asian issuers offset issuance costs including rating fees. Greater availability of credit ratings is expected to boost market transparency and attract a broader pool of investors into the domestic bond market. But strong private banking demand – amid a quest for high yields – continues to drive the supply of unrated bonds in the city-state. Currently, about half of the outstanding volume of SGD bonds are unrated. Are grants the answer to Singapore’s debt capital market challenges? What are the long-term fixes?
- How does 2017 issuance in the SGD bond market compare to 2016 issuance? What factors are driving the activity in 2017?
- How will ratings impact the pricing of a bond by an inaugural issuer as opposed to a repeat issuer? Does a rating per se guarantee the issuer a better outcome?
- Are investors willing to go down the credit curve to achieve high yields amid more rated issuances?
- What does the new MAS incentive mean for the industry as well as private banking clients?
- Should we expect more private banking clients go for rated deals going forward?
- How big is the foreign issuer base in SGD bond market? How does that compare to the unrated/rated universe? Is the credit rating grant more beneficial to smaller issuers than the bigger players – or both?
- Are unrated bond deals attracting institutional investors in the SGD bond market?
- Which types of issuers and asset classes are popular among SGD bond institutional investors? How popular are perpetual bonds among SGD bond institutional investors and why?
9am to 11am
