Ring the bell ceremony;
Credit: LuxSE
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) marked today the listing of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) latest bond issuance, in the presence of Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna; AIIB President Jin Liquin attended the event virtually from Beijing.
The Ring the Bell ceremony was organised to celebrate the multilateral development bank’s landmark £800 million bond issuance, which is the first Sterling denominated issuance by the AIIB to date.
Robert Scharfe, CEO of LuxSE, commented: “The relationship between AIIB and LuxSE gains even stronger foundations with the listing of this first GBP denominated bond. Global cooperation is needed to generate the necessary capital to create sustainable infrastructure for the future and AIIB plays an essential role in this development. We are proud to serve as the reference exchange for its bond issuances”.
This issuance marks the twelfth bond listing by the AIIB on the LuxSE since the bank established its Global Medium Term Note Programme in December last year. Previous bond issuances have been issued in Turkish Lira, Russian Ruble, Thai Baht and Hong Kong Dollars; the recent GBP-denominated bond issuance reflects the AIIB’s strategy to diversify its investor base.
The AIIB was established in 2016 to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia through sustainable infrastructure investment. Today, the multilateral development bank counts more than 100 members and Luxembourg was one of the first countries to become a non-regional member of the bank.
In July last year, the AIIB chose Luxembourg as the location of its Annual Meeting, which saw leaders from the international financial industry gather in the European Convention Center Luxembourg. Last year’s event marked the first time the AIIB’s Annual Meeting was held outside of Asia and illustrated the bank’s international reach and Luxembourg’s appeal as a financial centre.
“This transaction represents another step in the diversification of AIIB’s funding programme for the financing of our investments in sustainable infrastructure. With more than half of our bonds listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange this year, we truly value our close partnership with the Exchange in contributing to our endeavour to improve the lives of millions of people in Asia and beyond,” said AIIB President Jin Liqun, who was recently elected to a second term at the helm of the bank.
Following Robert Scharfe's opening speech, Luxembourg’s Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna praised the close relationship between Luxembourg and the AIIB: “I am pleased that for many of its bonds, the AIIB chooses Luxembourg as its listing place. A core mission of the AIIB, and one underlying this first Sterling bond issuance, is to better connect Asia and the rest of the world and to build sustainable infrastructure. The pandemic has shown that human economic activity has an impact on our planet. We therefore need a sustainable global economic recovery and infrastructure investments will play a key role".
