Advised on the issuance of USD 1 billion and AUD 4.5 billion Foreign Exchange Stabilization Fund Bonds

Lee & Ko advised on the issuance of USD 1 billion by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance of foreign exchange stabilization bonds (FESB) in the U.S. in July 2024 and AUD 450 million of FESB in the Australia in December 2024.

As the interest rate of FESB is used as a benchmark for domestic companies and financial institutions in offshore bond issuance, the issuance of FESB is very important in the capital market. In particular, the issuance of USD 1 billion FESB was significant in that achieved it received the lowest mark-up rate in history, and that the Korean government established the status of a regular bond issuer by issuing dollar-denominated bonds after three years. 

In addition, the AUD 4.5 billion FESB is the first FESB ever issued in Australian Dollars and is seen as a diversification of the Korean government's funding sources. The stable subscription and issuance of the bond, despite the declaration of martial law shortly after the pricing, is particularly significant. Lee & Ko’s experts contributed to the success of the transaction by providing accurate and prompt advice in a volatile market. 

In addition to this transaction, Lee & Ko has advised a number of other large-scale bond issuances in the second half of 2024 alone, including Shinhan Card's AUD 300 million offshore bond, Kookmin Bank's EUR 500 million covered bond, Korea National Oil Corporation's USD 1.2 billion offshore bond, and Korea Gas Corporation's USD 500 million offshore bond.