PANews reported on September 29 that according to Ledger Insights, HSBC issued a one-year digital bond of HK$1 billion (approximately US$128 million) through its Orion distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform. This is the first digital note issued by a Hong Kong company and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It is also the first digital bond issued in Hong Kong in accordance with British law, with an annual interest rate of 3.6%.

The issuance uses a similar technical architecture to the $756 million digital bond issued by the Hong Kong government earlier this year. By integrating with the Central Securities Depository (CMU) system, investors can purchase the bond through traditional means or DLT platforms, solving liquidity issues.