Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) lists first Hong Kong cat bond

The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) continues to be the listing venue of choice for the catastrophe bond market with a significant percentage of the outstanding market housed there and has even won the listing for the first cat bond to be issued out of Hong Kong.

The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX), under the strategic guidance of President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Wojciechowski, has positioned itself as the home for catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) listings, winning the vast majority of notes to be issued in the market that require a listing.

In 2020, the BSX listed 253 ILS securities, which was almost 100 more than the 155 listed in 2019.

That put the Exchange as home to almost 93% of the $46.4 billion of cat bond and ILS risk capital outstanding in our Deal Directory at the end of last year.

In 2021 the BSX has been the Exchange of choice again, winning the majority of the market’s issuance once again.

Notably, the BSX now finds itself home to the very first catastrophe bond to be issued out of Hong Kong as well.

The $30 million Greater Bay Re Ltd. (Series 2021-1) catastrophe bond transaction came to market at the end of September and provides Chinese state-backed reinsurance firm China Re P&C with a one-year source of typhoon reinsurance protection, on an indemnity and per-occurrence basis.

With Hong Kong being a new ILS domicile, there was always a chance the issuance would list on its own stock exchange, but for this first, Bermuda’s BSX was chosen.

We’d imagine that in time Hong Kong will look to have locally issued catastrophe bonds list locally as well, at least in some cases.

But the BSX continues to demonstrate that it remains home to the majority of the catastrophe bond market, as well as any other ILS securities and structures that require a listing.