1. Statutory Board Bonds
| Issuer | • Housing Development Board • Jurong Town Corporation • Land Transport Authority • Other Statutory Boards |
| Tenors | Varies, depending on issue. Typically 5-20 years. |
| Currency | Singapore dollar |
| Interest Payment | Issues are either fixed- or floating-rate. Interest is paid semiannually or annually, computed based on the number of days in an interest period over the actual number of days in a year. |
| Average Issue Size | SGD250 million |
| Minimum Amount of Bid | SGD10,000-SGD250,000 |
| Method of Sale in the Primary Market | Private placement or public offering with appointed banks and insurance companies. |
| Who May Apply | Application is open to resident and nonresident individual and corporate investors. Foreign investors are required to appoint a Depository Agent. |
| Redemption | Issues are redeemable at par upon maturity. Some issues may be callable or convertible to equity. |
| Taxation | There is no capital gains tax. For Qualifying Debt Securities (QDS), resident institutional investors enjoy a concessionary tax rate of 10% on interest income and non-residents are exempt from withholding tax. |
| Secondary Market Trading | Over-the-counter |
2. Domestic Corporate Bonds
| Issuer | Domestic Issuers • Special Purpose Vehicles • Registered Private Companies |
| Tenors | Typically 1-10 years |
| Currency | Singapore dollar |
| Interest Payment | Issues are either fixed- or floating-rate. Interest is paid semiannually or annually computed according to the actual number of days in an interest period on the basis of a 365-day year. |
| Average Issue Size | SGD100 million-300 million |
| Minimum Amount of Bid | SGD10,000-250,000 |
| Method of Sale in the Primary Market | Private placement or public offering with appointed banks and insurance companies. |
| Who May Apply | Application is open to resident and nonresident individual and corporate investors. Foreign investors are required to appoint a Depository Agent. |
| Redemption | Issues are redeemable at par upon maturity. Some issues may be callable or convertible to equity. |
| Taxation | There is no capital gains tax. For Qualifying Debt Securities (QDS), resident institutional investors enjoy a concessionary tax rate of 10% on interest income and non-residents are exempt from withholding tax. |
| Secondary Market Trading | Over-the-counter |
3. Non-Domestic Bonds
| Issuer | • Foreign Financial Institutions and Corporations • Supranational agencies |
| Tenors | Varies, depending on issue. Typically 1-15 years. |
| Currency | Singapore Dollar |
| Interest Payment | Typically fixed-rate and paid semi-annually, computed according to the actual number of days in an interest period on the basis of a 365-day year. |
| Average Issue Size | SGD100 million-300 million |
| Minimum Amount of Bid | SGD10,000 |
| Method of Sale in the Primary Market | Private placement or public offering with appointed banks and insurance companies. |
| Who May Apply | Application is open to resident and nonresident individual and corporate investors. Foreign investors are required to appoint a Depository Agent. |
| Redemption | Issues are redeemable at par upon maturity. |
| Taxation | There is no capital gains tax. For Qualifying Debt Securities (QDS), resident institutional investors enjoy a concessionary tax rate of 10% on interest income and non-residents are exempt from withholding tax. |
| Secondary Market Trading | Over-the-counter |
A. Statutory Board Bond Issuers
Statutory boards of the Singapore Government are autonomous organizations whose issues generally imply good credit ratings because they carry a sovereign guarantee. Statutory Board papers are considered the most liquid among debt instruments on the Singapore corporate bond market. The three largest Statutory Board issuers are the following:
Housing Development Board (HDB) is the public housing authority that provides affordable and quality housing.
Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) is the largest government-backed industrial estate developer. JTC manages and develops industrial estates and infrastructure to meet the needs of commercial and manufacturing industries.
Land Transport Authority (LTA) is under the Ministry of Transport and leads land transport developments.
B. Domestic Corporate Bond Issuers
Domestic corporate bond issuers are mainly composed of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), Temasek-linked companies, and private companies. These are mainly composed of asset-backed commercial papers and convertible bonds. SPVs are mostly used by banks to offer structured products intended to generate higher returns. Temasek Holdings is the investment arm of Singapore and has links to companies such as Singapore Airlines, SingTel, DBS Bank, SMRT Corporation, and PSA Corporation.
C. Non-Domestic/Foreign Bond Issuers
Non-Domestic SGD corporate bond issues are mainly composed of supranational agencies, foreign banks, and foreign corporations from the United States, Europe and Asia. These include Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., and the Asian Development Bank, among others.
Singapore’s Corporate Bond Market is mainly composed of statutory board bonds, domestic bonds and non-domestic bonds open to both local and foreign investors. Corporate bonds are generally bought and traded over-the-counter.