Hong Kong – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – International law firm Clifford Chance has advised the EMEAP Group* and State Street Global Advisers on the launch of the US$1 billion+ ABF Pan-Asia Bond Index Fund (the PAIF) in the first exchange-traded Asian bond fund in Asia.
The PAIF is also the first Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to be domiciled in Singapore and authorised both by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, and to be listed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The fund will invest in local currency government and quasi-government bonds in eight Asian markets – China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
The PAIF is the second fund in the US$2 billion Asia Bond Fund (ABF) 2 initiative developed by the EMEAP Group. The first fund, the ABF Hong Kong Bond Index Fund managed by HSBC Investments (Hong Kong) listed last month. Clifford Chance also acted as sole legal adviser to the EMEAP Group and HSBC in respect of that fund.
Mark Shipman, a Hong Kong-based partner in Clifford Chance’s Asian funds team, commented:
“Our Asian funds team has a history of working on such innovative benchmark transactions – we worked on the first ETF in Hong Kong (Tracker Fund of Hong) and the first bond ETF in Hong Kong (the ABF Hong Kong Bond Index Fund) – and we are very proud to have worked on Asia’s first bond fund ETF with State Street Global Advisors.”
Clifford Chance acted as sole legal adviser to the EMEAP Group, State Street and to the PAIF itself. The Clifford Chance team was led by partner Mark Shipman, supported by associates Matthias Feldmann, Rodney Cannon and Huan Ke (all Hong Kong). They worked closely with the firm’s Singapore funds team, primarily with partner Choo Wai Hong and Josephine Law. Lawyers from the firm’s Bangkok, Beijing and Shanghai project also assisted with the project.
