Kookmin Bank

‘Tier two’ and ‘sustainability’ are labels that have never previously been combined in Asia. At least not until this week, when Kookmin Bank raised $450m from a Basel III-compliant deal.

Kookmin Bank has issued the second Korean covered bond of this year but the first in dollars and its first in more than two years.

Kookmin Bank issued the first sustainability bond from a South Korean financial institution on Tuesday, raising $300m from a deal that was covered more than six times.

Lotte Property and Development Co debuted in the sustainable bond market on Tuesday with a floating rate three year note. While the sustainability label drew some attention to the $200m transaction, it was the issuer’s Kookmin Bank guarantee that swayed investors.

South Korea’s Kookmin Bank returned to the Formosa bond market on Monday, raising $300m from a floating rate note (FRN). Taiwanese investors’ eagerness to buy Korean financial credits helped the issuer price a relatively cheap deal versus an international transaction.

Four Asian issuers began marketing dollar deals on Monday, as a number of others started testing buy-side appetite through roadshows. But borrowers will have to temper their expectations on size and price, faced with a choppy market backdrop.

A $300m three tranche loan for Korean lender Kookmin Bank is due to close by the end of this week, said bankers. The deal offers lenders a rare chance to take exposure to a Korean credit.

Geopolitical tensions around North Korea did not close the primary debt market this week, as Hyundai Motor Group’s US arm snapped up $1bn from a triple-tranche deal and Kookmin Bank priced a $500m trade on Monday.

South Korean dollar bonds are hitting the market unabated despite a new missile launch from North Korea last Friday, with Hyundai Capital America and Kookmin Bank marketing new paper.

Korea’s Kookmin Bank is eyeing a return to the dollar bond market, meeting with investors this week to gauge interest in a senior deal.

Kookmin Bank has become the first South Korean commercial lender to sell a dollar bond in the Taiwanese market, and it did it with style, finding more than enough demand to boost its deal size.

South Korea’s Kookmin Bank is marketing a new five year floating rate dollar transaction, set to be listed in both Taipei and Singapore.