Macao Central Securities Depository and Clearing Limited (MCSD) celebrated the 2nd anniversary of its establishment yesterday, and Benjamin Chan Sau San, president of the Administration Committee of the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM), said that the various types of debt securities deposited at MCSD currently amount to nearly 95 billion patacas, adding that AMCM, in conjunction with MCSD, is currently working on optimising the Macau Central Securities Depository System, in line with international practices.
The nearly 95-billion patacas in debt securities include five-year treasury bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance for the third time in Macau, and the municipal bonds issued by the People’s Government of Guangdong Province in Macau for the third time, according to Chan, who noted that MCSD has so far managed over 100 participant accounts opened by 34 local institutions and 67 from abroad.
Chan made remarks during yesterday’s Celebration of the 2nd Anniversary of MCSD and Awards Ceremony for Contributions Provided to the 2023 Macau Bond Market, at the World Trade Centre Macau in Nape. MCSD is a company fully owned by AMCM and officially started to operate in December 2021.
According to Chan, with the aim of attracting more foreign institutions to participate in investment and financing activities in the local bond market, AMCM has launched a raft of activities promoting the articulation between the local bond market and international markets, including a visit, together with MCSD, to two EU-based Central Depositories of Securities (ICSD) in April last year.
Chan said: “AMCM expects to continue to collaborate with the [financial] sector in the new year, with the aim of transforming the Macau bond market into a platform of investments and financing services that allows to articulate the Chinese mainland and the outside world, highlighting the advantages of Macau, centralising capital here and contributing to the development of our country, based on the situation of dual circulation, as well as for the internationalisation of the renminbi.”
Renminbi (“people’s currency”) is the official name of the nation’s legal tender, informally known as “yuan”.
In recognition of market participants who made outstanding contributions to the local bond market last year, MCSD presented six awards at the ceremony, namely the “Excellent Underwriting Agency”, “Excellent Issuing Agency” and “Excellent Overseas Marketing Agency”, as well as the “ESG Outstanding Contribution Institution”, “Excellent Secondary Market Trading Institution” and “Excellent Professional Service Institution”. A total of 27 local and overseas institutions were awarded.
ACMC strives to attract more bond issuers & investors
Meanwhile, speaking to the media after the ceremony, AMCM Administration Committee member Henrietta Lau Hang Kun said that in view of the fact that the bond market is one of the crucial factors in the development of Macau’s modern financial industry – a new key industry which is aimed at appropriately diversifying Macau’s economy, AMCM expects to further expand the local bond market and connect with international central securities depositories, and thus boosting more bond investors and issuers in the local market. While at the same time, she added, Macau will also make its own preparations, continue to optimise its central clearing system and provide international standards for benchmarking, thereby promoting the local bond market to overseas institutions.
Lau also said she believed that with the support of the Ministry of Finance, the issuing of treasury and municipal bonds in Macau by the central government and Guangdong provincial government would become a regular mechanism, underlining that Macau will continue to liaise with the mainland authorities in the hope that they will keep issuing municipal bonds in Macau.
Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) President Benjamin Chan Sau San delivers a speech during yesterday’s 2nd Anniversary of Macao Central Securities Depository and Clearing Limited (MCSD) and Awards Ceremony for Contributions Provided to the 2023 Macau Bond Market, at the World Trade Centre Macau (WTCM) in Nape.
AMCM Administration Committee member Henrietta Lau Hang Kun talks to reporters after yesterday’s ceremony at the World Trade Centre Macau. – Photos: Yuki Lei
