Chinese securities company's first publicly traded digital bond was successfully issued by GTJAI.

Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited (GTJAI, Stock Code: 1788.HK), a subsidiary of Guotai Haitong Group, has made history by successfully issuing its first digitally native bond. This groundbreaking achievement marks a significant milestone in the digital finance sector.

The bond, structured as a direct issue denominated in U.S. dollars, carries a maturity of 3 years and an amount of no more than US$300 million. The transaction was facilitated using HSBC Orion, the digital assets platform, demonstrating the capabilities of the platform to enable a broader range of digital bonds and issuers.

The core features of digital bonds—digitization, programmability, and automated execution—provide greater transparency, reducing costs and risks of settlement failures. This innovative approach aligns with GTJAI's commitment to financial innovation and professional capabilities in digital finance.

GTJAI acted as the left lead joint global coordinator and bookrunner for this issuance. The company's success in conducting the first digital bond issuance by a Chinese brokerage firm is a testament to the expertise of Liu Weijia, the head of the equity department at Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited.

In addition to its digital bond initiative, GTJAI's core business includes brokerage, corporate finance, asset management, loans and financing, financial products, spanning across individual finance (wealth management), institutional finance (institutional investor services and corporate finance), and investment management.

GTJAI has received high ESG ratings, with an MSCI ESG "A" rating, Wind ESG "A" rating, and SynTao Green Finance "A" rating. Its S&P Global ESG score leads 84% of its global peers, reflecting the company's commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.

This digital bond issuance was the first of its kind via public offering issued by a Chinese securities firm. In the first half of 2025, GTJAI submitted its digital bond business plan and received confirmation from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission that it had no further questions on the plan and formally commenced its digital bond issue business.

For more information about GTJAI and its digital bond initiative, please visit https://www.gtjai.com. Contact information for GTJAI can be found at [email protected]. Mr. Zhang Xueming, Chief Financial Officer of GTJAI, stated that the issuance of the digital bond is a testament to GTJAI's commitment to financial innovation and professional capabilities in digital finance.

GTJAI is a company of Guotai Haitong Group and is based in Hong Kong with subsidiaries in Singapore, Vietnam, and Macau. The controlling shareholder, Guotai Haitong Securities (Stock Code: 601211.SH; 2611.HK), is the comprehensive financial provider with a long-term, sustainable, and overall leading position in China's capital markets. GTJAI offers high-quality and diversified comprehensive financial services for clients' overseas asset allocation.

Mr. John O'Neill, Group Head of Digital Assets & Currencies at HSBC, stated that the transaction demonstrates the capabilities of HSBC Orion to enable a broader range of digital bonds and issuers. This collaboration underscores the growing potential of digital bonds and GTJAI's role as a pioneer in this exciting new frontier of finance.