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The secondary listings of the three Malaysian sovereign bonds, two denominated in USD and the other in Euro, brings the total market capitalisation of LFX to USD7.00 billion (RM 26.6 billion) from USD2.96 billion (RM 11.2 billion) previously.
The three new listings are the Malaysian Government’s Euro 650 million 6.375% Notes due 2005 (Euro Notes ‘05’), USD 1.5 billion 8.75% Notes due 2009 (USD Notes ‘09’), and USD 1.75 billion 7.5% Notes due 2011 (USD Notes ‘11’). The notes were issued between 1999 and 2002.
LFX Board Member Encik Yusli Mohamed Yusof said that the listing of the Malaysian sovereign bonds is yet another significant achievement for LFX. Yusli is also the Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, the holding company of LFX.
“The listings reflect the growth and competency of LFX in becoming the premier offshore exchange in the Asia-Pacific region.
“With on-going commitment and support as demonstrated by the Malaysian Government, LFX will continue to strengthen its position in conventional and Islamic international financing to enhance the prospects of the Labuan International Offshore Financial Centre (IOFC) and LFX in particular.
“Malaysian companies, especially those revitalising their corporate strategies, should emulate the Government’s choice in listing their foreign currency instruments on LFX,” Yusli said.
Yusli said this is the second time that the Malaysian Government has listed its international papers on LFX. The USD600 million Malaysia Global Sukuk, the world’s first international sovereign sukuk, had its secondary listing on the LFX on 18 September 2002.
The continuing move by the Malaysian Government to list its international papers on LFX is part of its effort to encourage more Malaysian companies to list their non-Ringgit financial instruments on LFX.
With the latest listings, there are now 16 listings on the LFX comprising four Syariah compliant instruments, five mutual funds and seven bonds.
The listing sponsor for the listing of the three Malaysian sovereign bonds is AmInternational (L) Limited, a member of the AmBank Group. Licensed by the LFX, a listing sponsor is primarily responsible to arrange for the listing of instruments on the LFX and for any subsequent post listing obligations arising.
“As one of the more active listing sponsors of LFX, we are proud to have arranged for the listings and hope to bring in more listings in the future as LFX forges ahead”, said AmInternational Chief Executive Officer, Mr Paul Ong.
He noted that AmInternational has also successfully listed a multitude of other instruments including investment funds, conventional bonds as well as Islamic bonds including the Malaysia Global Sukuk.
On the recent listing, the Euro Notes ’05’ were issued in November 2000, whilst the USD Notes ’09’ were issued in two series in June 1999 and September 2000 and finally the USD Notes ’11’ were issued in two series in July 2001 and March 2002.
The primary listing of the Euro Notes ’05’, USD Notes ’09’ and USD Notes ’11’ were on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange since 24 November 2000, 2 June 1999 and 9 July 2001 respectively. The USD ’09’ Notes were also listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited on 2 June 1999.
All the Notes are direct, unconditional, unsecured and general obligations of Malaysia whereby the full faith and credit of Malaysia is pledged for the due and punctual payment of all principal and interest on the Notes. The funds from the issuance of the Notes had been used for general funding purposes of the government.
As a web-based exchange at www.lfx.com.my, LFX offers market participants and investors around the world, fast and efficient access to its services. Wholly owned by Bursa Malaysia Berhad (formerly known as Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Bhd), LFX is an international offshore financial exchange that facilitates the listing of a multitude of multi-currency instruments and allows the issuer the flexibility to structure the instruments that best suit their funding needs.
