Japan’s Softbank has raced ahead of all its
peers by selling the world’s largest subordinated
notes but complying with international accounting requirements
proved a challenging task.
This was virtually the first case that a Japanese issuer
adopting the International Financial Reporting Standards
(IFRS) for issuing offshore subordinated notes has sought
to have them treated as equity.
|
"It is not only rare for
Japanese corporates to issue subordinated notes but
there is also no precedent for an offshore
IFRS-compliant hybrid debt offering by a
corporate"
|
|
Tokyo-listed telecoms giant Softbank has become the first
Japanese issuer to have tapped the offshore high yield
perpetual bond market, raising $4.5 billion from two tranches
of hybrid US-dollar debt on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). It
has also set a benchmark for the application of the IFRS on
such an offshore bond offering.
But difficulties when it came to complying accounting
rules...