LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International law firms Sidley Austin LLP* and Ashurst have acted as international counsel to the issuer, Korea Housing Finance Corporation (“KHFC”) and the joint lead managers, Standard Chartered Bank and BNP Paribas, respectively, in KHFC’s inaugural issue of US$500 million of covered bonds. KHFC is a Korean state-owned entity whose public policy function is to promote home ownership among low and middle income persons in Korea.

The transaction, the first statutory covered bond to be issued in Asia, was significantly over-subscribed by an international investor base in the U.S., Asia and Europe, and was closed on 15 July, 2010, within an approximately 12 week documentation period. It was undertaken on the basis of the Korea Housing Finance Corporation Act, the legislative framework which governs the establishment and operation of KHFC, but also required a degree of additional structuring in order to reach international investor and rating agency standards. The offering was rated Aa3 by Moodys, one notch higher than KHFC’s corporate rating and Korea’s sovereign rating.

The Sidley team acting for the joint lead managers was led by Michael Durrer and Partha Pal, partners in the firm’s International Finance Group, with support from partner Tom Albrecht in relation to U.S. law matters. The team also included Emily Haslam, Stephen Pak and Martin Kerr. A separate team led by Elizabeth Uwaifo, also a partner in the International Finance Group, assisted by Zartasia Khan, acted for the swap providers, Standard Chartered First Bank Korea Limited and BNP Paribas, Seoul Branch. A third team led by partner Andrew Bliss, and assisted by Robert Mason, acted for the trustee to the transaction, Citicorp International Limited.

The Ashurst team acting for KHFC was led by partner, Peter Kwon, assisted by Ben Hur, Stanley Ko and Sun Kim, with support on U.S. law matters from partner, Stuart Rubin, assisted by Matthieu Milgrom. Derivatives advice was provided by partner, Christopher Whiteley, assisted by William Rhee.

Kim & Chang acted as Korean law counsel to the joint lead managers, and Shin & Kim acted as Korean law counsel to KHFC. The Kim & Chang team was led by Yong-Ho Kim, with the assistance of Ie-Hwan Yoo, Soo-Jin Yoon and Hoin Lee, and the Shin & Kim team was led by Ho-Seog Hwang and Young-Hee Jo.

Commenting on the transaction, Peter Kwon stated, “International financial institutions are looking for innovative ways to stimulate investor appetite in debt products and this landmark issue certainly achieves that. The considerable global demand for this bond is a credit to the robust structure of the transaction, as well as a strong indication of Korea’s emergence as a major player in the international debt capital markets. “

Commenting on the transaction, Partha Pal stated, ”We are delighted to have represented Standard Chartered Bank and BNP Paribas on this ground-breaking transaction and to have worked with such a committed and capable team of international and local counsel, who all worked collaboratively and constructively to achieve the desired commercial result in a very demanding time period. Following on from the Kookmin Bank covered bond transaction undertaken in 2009, this offering demonstrates the utility of covered bonds as a means of raising wholesale mortgage finance in Asia.”

Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world’s largest full-service law firms, with approximately 1700 lawyers practising in 17 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Sidley is recognised for service and responsiveness—BTI, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, has named Sidley as one of only two firms to have been in the top ten of the BTI Client Service rankings every year since the inception of those rankings in 2001, and was number one in three of those years.

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