Bank of China Limited (BOC) announced in Hong Kong Thursday that it will issue 3 billion RMB-denominated bonds in Hong Kong from September 5 to 16.

This is the second time for BOC to issue RMB bonds in the southern Chinese city.

The 3 billion bonds will be issued in two tranches. Tranche A bonds will have a term of two years and bear an interest rate of 3.25 percent on an annual basis. Tranche B bonds will have a term of three years with an annual interest rate of 3.40 percent.

Both Tranche A and B will be offered to retail and institutional investors. The proceeds raised from the offering will be used for the general corporate purposes of BOC.

The joint lead managers and bookrunners for the bond offering are Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited and BOCI Asia Limited. The retail bonds will be distributed through 17 placing banks with branches in Hong Kong.

Early last year, BOC became the first mainland commercial bank to issue RMB bonds in Hong Kong. Since then, more mainland banks have come to issue RMB bonds in the city.

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2008)