UOB and ADDX Partner on Sustainability-Linked Bond

This initiative comes amid a rise in the use of digital securities to enhance the efficiency of bonds and other fixed-income instruments.

UOB and ADDX have completed the digitization and digital custody of a S$50-million portion of the $675 million sustainability-linked bonds recently launched by Sembcorp Industries, according to an announcement on Thursday.

The ten-and-a-half-year bond is due in 2032 and has been priced at a coupon rate of 2.66 percent per annum if Sembcorp meets a sustainability performance target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions intensity.

UOB highlighted the benefits digital bond issuance brings to corporate clients, including faster processing and lower cost in the custody and administration of the bond.

In the past year, digital securities have achieved a high level of acceptance among blue-chip issuers of bonds and other securities globally, noted ADDX.

As digital bonds enter a phase of widespread adoption, the cost of fundraising through bonds and other fixed-income instruments will continue to fall, and companies that embrace the new technology will be able to raise capital more efficiently, Oi Yee Choo, ADDX chief commercial officer, said.

Founded in 2017, ADDX, previously known as iSTOX, is a full-service capital markets platform with MAS lice