A man drives by the Acleda Bank Plc headquarters on Phnom Penh’s Monivong Boulevard in 2017. Hong Menea
The Securities Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) on Thursday confirmed that two of the Kingdom’s largest commercial banks would be approved and enjoy debt securities listing in the first quarter.
Its director-general Sou Socheat told The Post that Acleda Bank Plc (Acleda) was the first commercial bank to be approved, while the Phnom Penh Commercial Bank Plc (PPCBank) earned the distinction of becoming the first South Korean commercial bank to meet the benchmark.
He said the SECC would conduct an internal meeting to further review both applications before formally requesting approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance later this year.
“We will process the Acleda and PPCBank applications at the same time. We will do our best to submit our request [to the ministry] as soon as possible,” he said.
The CSX had previously approved the equity securities listing eligibility and debt securities listing eligibility applications for both banks on December 24 last year, according to a CSX press release.
PPCBank president Shin Chang Moo told local media that the financial institution needed to have further meetings with the SECC, the CSX, and an underwriter before deciding the scale of their corporate bond offerings.
“We haven’t finalised the size of the bond issue since it is contingent on market demand for the bond subscription and further discussions with the SECC, CSX, and our lead manager, Yuanta Securities [underwriter].
“We are enthusiastic about PPCBank being approved by the National Bank of Cambodia [NBC] and CSX. [This] means our bank has passed the test in terms of internal control, financial and risk management for the issuance and listing of corporate bonds.
“The issuance process thus far has been smooth and successful. However, since we still need to go through one last step before being granted SECC approval, we will focus on the remaining benchmarks to ensure our goal is reached,” he said.
Chang Moo said PPCBank had decided to issue the bonds to adopt more efficient Asset Liability Management, diversify sources of funding to improve fund management and mitigate risks to liquidity.
Acleda received an official letter from the NBC on November 26, which allowed it to proceed with plans for an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
“Our shareholders have unanimously agreed that the bank should become public to diversify our sources of funding and utilise the Cambodian capital market for our future growth,” said Acleda president In Channy.
