JunZeJun Law Firm has advised Bank of China (BOC) on the issuance of a $5.92 billion perpetual bond, with King & Wood Mallesons advising the joint key underwriter, China International Capital Corporation Limited.

BOC is the first Chinese bank to issue perpetual bonds or perps, which will set a template for other Chinese banks, reported Reuters. Perps, having characteristics of both debt and equity, are seen as a major step toward recapitalization of banks held back by inadequate capital, but it is not the first Chinese company to do so. Perps were introduced in China in 2013.  

More than 140 investors, including insurance companies and some offshore institutions, subscribed to the issue, reported Reuters. It added that alarmed by a slowing economy, policymakers are in a hurry to have banks fit enough to ramp up credit expansion, but banks’ lending capacity is largely limited by their capital adequacy. 

The JunZeJun team was led by Beijing partner Ze Wang.

The KWM team was led by partners Beijing partners Linli Fan and Sijia Liu. 

君泽君和金杜助力中国银行成功发行59.2亿美元无固定期限资本债券

中国银行在全国银行间债券市场成功完成400亿元（约59.2亿美元）无固定期限资本债券发行定价，君泽君律师事务所担任发行人中国银行的法律顾问，金杜律师事务所担任承销商中国国际金融有限公司（中金）的法律顾问。

据路透社报道，本次债券是我国银行业首单无固定期限资本债券，中国银行此次债券的推出将为后续商业银行发行无固定期限资本债券提供范本。无固定期限资本债券又称永续债，是一种兼具债权和股权属性的融资工具，银行发行永续债，可缓解银行的一级资本压力，提高资本充足率。此次虽然是我国商业银行发行首单永续债，但中国企业的永续债发行早在2013年就起步了。

此次发行共有140家机构参与认购，涵盖政策性银行、大中小型商业银行、保险公司、证券公司、金、财务公司、信托等银行间市场主流机构。与此同时，还成功吸引数家境外机构投资者参与投资。据路透社报道，受经济放缓的影响，政府机构积极推进银行具备足够实力加速信贷扩张，但银行的放贷能力很大程度上仍受制于其资本充足率的限制。

君泽君律师事务所团队由北京办公室合伙人汪泽律师主导。

金杜律师事务所团队由北京办公室合伙人范玲莉律师和柳思佳律师主导。

To contact the editorial team, please email ALBEditor@thomsonreuters.com.