Macau Sees Bond Listing Surge in Pivot Away From Gambling

  • Record $28.1 billion new notes were listed in city this year
  • Local bond business benefits from Chinese LGFVs’ issuance boom

Visitors against the city skyline at Mount Fortress in Macau, China.

Photographer: Eduardo Leal/Bloomberg
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Macau is hosting a record amount of bond listings as the world’s top gambling hub boosts efforts to diversify its economy and establish itself as an alternative financing hub for Chinese firms.

A combined $28.1 billion of bonds have started trading this year on the Chongwa (Macao) Financial Asset Exchange Co., a local exchange known as MOX, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Around 63% of these new notes are yuan-denominated and mostly issued by Chinese local government financing vehicles, or LGFVs.