China’s biggest banks have launched their first-ever sales of a special kind of loss-absorbing debt, moving closer to meeting international requirements designed to avoid repeats of the 2008 financial crisis.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is selling Rmb40bn ($5.5bn) of so-called total-loss absorbing capacity bonds this week, according to a filing. Bank of China also launched pricing for its own Rmb30bn sale on Thursday.
The bonds are part of a long-term push from international regulators to shore up bank balance sheets by making them issue instruments that are exposed to losses ahead of other highly sensitive bank liabilities, especially deposits.