Allen & Overy has advised India’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), on its sale of USD denominated Additional Tier 1 bonds, the first transaction of its kind.
In light of new capital requirements, these Basel III compliant bonds provide India’s banks, particularly its public sector banks, with a non-dilutive method of shoring up regulatory capital. The execution of this transaction was highly complex, requiring structural expertise and deep institutional and regulatory knowledge.
 
Commenting, Allen & Overy U.S. securities partner Amit Singh said: “Allen & Overy has been leading the charge on the development of Basel III compliant issuances from India and we are delighted to work with SBI on such a significant transaction.”
 
“A number of Indian banks require additional regulatory capital and there is also a huge need for regulatory capital across Asia. This issuance from SBI will set the benchmark and open the doors to other Indian banks looking to raise regulatory capital from the international markets.”
 
Allen & Overy’s Hong Kong team has strong capital markets expertise in this product and has advised on a number of high-profile regulatory capital issuances out of Asia including China Construction Bank’s issuance of its Basel III compliant CNY2bn 4.90% Tier 2 date capital bonds due 2024 and on ICBC’s USD5.65bn equivalent Basel III compliant Additional Tier 1 preference shares in three currencies.
 
The Allen & Overy team was led by Amit Singh from Hong Kong, with support from counsel Abigail Boyd and associates David Cameron and Ming Wei Loo.