Bangkok Bank wins 7 bond awards for Best Bond House and Top Underwriter including 3 awards for environmental and sustainability bonds, emphasizing its role as a 'trusted partner' who is ready to provide financial solutions to meet investors' needs
Bangkok Bank has demonstrated exceptional performance by winning seven excellence awards in bonds from the Thai Bond Market Association. The Bank received the prestigious Best Bond House and Top Underwriter awards, along with three notable awards for environmental, social, and sustainability bonds. This shows that the market in 2025 is interested in shorter-term bonds compared to the previous year and is avoiding high-risk industries. The Bank continues its journey as a Sustainability Bond House, emphasizing its role as a trusted partner and reliable close friend, supporting all financial and investment matters.
Bangkok Bank Executive Vice President and Corporate Finance Department Manager Mr. Prasert Deejongkit said the Bank received excellent bond awards from the ThaiBMA Best Bond Awards 2024 organized by the Thai Bond Market Association. This year, the Bank received seven awards as follows:
1.Best Bond House - awarded to a financial institution with excellence in bond transactions in primary and secondary markets and for outstanding contributions to the development of the bond market.
2.Top Underwriter - awarded to institutions with the highest total value of long-term corporate bond issuances.
3.Best Primary Market Contributor - awarded to the financial institution with the highest allocation of government bonds in the primary market through participation in auctions of government bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance in the 2024 fiscal year.
4.Best Secondary Market Contributor - awarded to financial institution with the highest allocation of government bonds in the secondary market, based on the trading value of government bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance in the 2024 fiscal year.
5.Most Innovative Deal - awarded to the issuer and underwriter of sustainability-linked bonds who demonstrated innovative fundraising which serves as a model for other bond issuers. The awarded bond was for Minor International PCL's No. 1/2024 tranche 1 and No. 1/2024 tranche 2.
6.Government Sector ESG Bond of the Year - awarded to government bonds and underwriters of government bonds under the Ministry of Finance's fundraising framework for environmental, social, and sustainability in the first round in the 2025 fiscal year.
7.Deal of the Year - awarded to bond issuer and underwriter of most outstanding private sector bond transaction in all aspects, which was the Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited's bonds batch 1-5 of the first round in 2024.
"Receiving these awards is a great honor as we have received a total of seven awards, including the prestigious Best Bond House Award, which is considered the highest award. The evaluation is based on excellence in various dimensions, including bond transactions in the primary and secondary markets and the Bank's prominent role in the development of the bond market. We also received the Top Underwriter Award, as we have underwritten the highest total value of long-term private bonds in the past year, reflecting the confidence of both bond issuers and investors have in the Bank as a "leading regional bank" with expertise and experience in the finance, as well as a clear commitment to operate in accordance with sustainable development guidelines."
In addition, three of the awards came from outstanding performance in the issuance of bonds to raise funds for environmental, social and sustainability. One of which is the Government Sector ESG Bond of the Year award for underwriting government bonds under the Finance Ministry's framework of fundraising for environmental, social and sustainability. This reflects the Bank's commitment to be part of sustainable development covering environmental, social, and governance (ESG).
Mr. Prasert also said that the new private bond which will be launched in 2025 is expected to have an offering of similar value to last year, but the average maturity is likely to be shorter, and most of the bonds will be issued to refinance existing bonds or repay loans, rather than investing in new projects as a result of the recent slowdown in private investment.
Despite the increasing investment demand among institutional investors they are still quite cautious as they tend to invest in bonds rated A or higher. In the case of bond funds, investors are interested in investing in Zero Coupon Bonds with a maturity of not more than 3 years, which meets the needs of better risk management and has higher liquidity in the secondary market. Meanwhile, individual investors prefer 2-4 year bonds with a credit rating of BBB or higher, but they are still cautious about investing in some industries that are affected by the current economic conditions.
"Although investors are interested in investing in bonds to diversify risks, it is clear that they are being more careful in the selection of bonds. The Bank strives to select bonds with appropriate risk and provide customers with appropriate returns. The Bank maintains its policy of being a Sustainability Bond House that focuses on five strengths: Trust - building trust with both bond issuers and investors, Service - providing services that exceed customer expectations, Market Development - collaborating with various agencies to develop the bond market, Product Development - creating products and innovations, especially in the field of ESG, and finally, People Development - developing quality personnel with moral qualities and expertise to be "trusted partners" to advise and offer products that best meet the needs of each customer group," Mr. Prasert said.