After Temasek whets appetite for retail bonds, what's next on the menu?

FOLLOWING the hot reception for Temasek Holdings' 2.7 per cent retail bonds sold last month, the obvious question is whether there will be more gold plated bonds launched for the retail investor.

To recap, Temasek's S$500 million, five-year bond which consists of a S$200 million placement tranche and a S$300 million public offer had a final order size of S$3.1 billion or 6.2 times subscribed. The placement tranche was subscribed more than seven times while the public tranche was 5.6 times subscribed.

The deal scored several firsts for the maiden Temasek bond, which incorporated a public offer for retail investors.

It was the first such bond offered to retail investors under the Monetary Authority of Singapore's exempt bond issuer framework, which makes the retail bond issuance process less onerous for appropriate issuers. Under this framework, issuers which satisfy cert…