Singapore's UOB banks on stable renminbi as it plans $727 mln Panda bond

United Overseas Bank

19/03/2026 01:06

March 19 (Reuters) - Singapore's United Overseas Bank UOBH.SI said on Thursday it plans to issue 5 billion Chinese yuan ($727.53 million) of 2026 renminbi bonds (Series 1) in China's interbank bond market, marking its latest fundraising in the onshore renminbi space.

The bank said all net proceeds would be remitted offshore and funds would be deployed in renminbi through its branches in Hong Kong and ASEAN to support its general banking business.

UOB has priced the bonds with a coupon rate of 1.83% per annum, payable annually in arrears.

The lender, Southeast Asia's third‑largest by assets, said it remains the only Singaporean bank in the Panda bond market. The deal will be its third Panda bond since its debut in 2019 and its sixth issuance in China's interbank market.

"As a repeat issuer, we appreciate the depth and resilience of the onshore RMB market, which has remained stable despite a challenging geopolitical backdrop," said Koh Chin Chin, Head of Group Treasury, Research and Customer Advocacy, UOB.

UOB has appointed Bank of China 601988.SS as the Lead Underwriter and Lead Bookrunner, while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China 1398.HK will act as Lead Underwriter and Joint Bookrunner.

The bank said it will apply to list the bonds on the Singapore Exchange and expects the notes to be issued on March 20, with a three-year maturity.

The deal follows other recent fundraising by UOB. In December, it priced a 750 million-pound ($995.9 million) floating-rate covered bond due June 2029, shortly after issuing an 850 million-euro ($974.9 million) covered bond in November.

($1 = 6.8726 Chinese yuan renminbi)

($1 = 0.7531 pounds)

($1 = 0.8718 euros)

 (Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

 ((Rajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com;))