Singapore bank DBS secures China bond underwriting licence

SINGAPORE, March 4 (Reuters) – DBS Group, Singapore’s biggest bank by assets, said on Wednesday its China unit has been granted a principal underwriting licence for non-financial corporate bonds in China’s interbank bond market.

The licence from China’s National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors, or NAFMII, allows DBS to lead-manage all onshore corporate bond deals, including coordinating syndicates, it said in a statement.

DBS, which is also the largest bank in Southeast Asia, said DBS China was one of the most active foreign banks for panda bonds in 2025, commanding a 38% market share after having participated in 65.8 billion yuan ($9.54 billion) of issuance. 

Panda bonds are yuan-denominated bonds sold in China’s onshore market by non-Chinese issuers. 

* DBS said it is the first and only Singapore-headquarteredbank licensed to lead-underwrite all corporate bonds issued inthe China interbank bond market. * Panda bond issuance in China’s interbank bond market roseat a 26% compound annual growth rate over the last five years to173.3 billion yuan in 2025 from 54.5 billion yuan in 2020, DBSsaid, citing Wind Information data. * DBS said it became the first Singapore bank to beappointed a renminbi clearing bank in 2025.  

($1 = 6.8996 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; editing by Barbara Lewis)