이 기사는 2021년 03월 22일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Korea Housing Finance Corporation (HF), the South Korean public financial company that provides housing loans, has started a process to sell euro-denominated covered bonds this year.

The HF has invited major foreign securities firms to pitch for a lead manager role to issue Korean paper covered bonds. Korean paper refers to foreign currency debt issued by South Korean entities abroad. The corporation plans to receive proposals by March 23 and start its selection process.

The HF plans to issue around 500 million euros (674 billion won) worth of covered bonds in the second half of this year. Covered bonds worth $500 million will mature in October.

The HF has sold covered bonds worth 500 million euros in the European market every year since its first 500 million euro offering of a covered bond in 2018. The corporation raised a combined 1.5 billion euros last year through two rounds of covered bond offerings.

Foreign currency-denominated bonds have become less attractive this year as the dollar-denominated bond market has stabilized due to low interest rates. Hana Bank, which tried to sell euro-denominated covered bonds earlier this year for the first time, had to bear higher funding cost than Woori Bank, which sold dollar-denominated bonds around the same time.

The fact that the HF has put continuous effort to widen the investor base in the European bond market and its AAA-rated covered bond are expected to help attract investors. (Reporting by Hye-rim Pi)