SSE Amends Guidelines for Reviewing Issuance and Listing of Specific Types of Corporate Bonds
In order to implement the decision and deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on striving to achieve the goal of peak carbon dioxide emission and carbon neutralization, consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation and connect with the rural revitalization, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has amended the SSE No. 2 Guidelines for Review Rules on Issuance and Listing of Corporate Bonds -- Specific Types of Corporate Bonds (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines for Specific Bonds). The added items including "carbon-neutrality green corporate bonds", "blue bonds" and, "corporate bonds of rural revitalization" rationalized some regulatory requirements.
To implement the new development concept and build a new development pattern is a major mission for the development of the bond market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Since the reform of corporate bond issuance system in 2015, under the leadership of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the SSE bond market has actively served national strategy, responded to market demand, continuously enriched the types of corporate bonds, and formed a product sequence composed of 13 types of specific products such as green corporate bonds. The Guidelines for Specific Bonds issued by the SSE for the first time on November 27, 2020, rationalized the regulatory requirements for specific corporate bond products, and clarified market expectations and improved experience of market participants.
The amendment to the Guidelines for Specific Bonds is an important measure to strengthen the guidance of capital investment in the field of national support in a bid to further serve the goals of the national low-carbon development, the rural revitalization and the sustainable utilization of marine resources. For green corporate bonds, relevant arrangements for sub-products such as carbon-neutrality green bonds and blue bonds were stipulated for the first time, and the use of funds raised and information disclosure of green bonds were clarified to ensure the funds raised go to green industries. Meanwhile, the original chapter of "corporate bonds for poverty alleviation", amended as "corporate bonds for rural revitalization" in accordance with the documents of the State Council, the CSRC and other relevant ministries and commissions, clarifies the relevant arrangements such as the issuers of corporate bonds for rural revitalization, the use of raised funds and information disclosure.
Since the implementation of the corporate bond registration system, the SSE has, under the leadership of the CSRC, adhered to the concept of marketization and legalization, attached equal importance to promoting development and risk prevention, actively explored the innovation of corporate bond products, and served high-quality development of the real economy. According to statistics, in the first half of 2021, the issuance scale of specific types of corporate bonds on the SSE market exceeded 300 billion yuan, playing a positive role in supporting the national green development and the innovation-driven development. Going forward, the SSE will continue to practice the development concept of "innovative, coordinated, green, open and sharing" and promote high-quality development of corporate bond market with improved review system of corporate bonds' issuance in the registration system and better service for the real economy and national strategy.
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