Citi’s Global Issuer Services business, acting through Citibank, N.A. in its capacity as a depositary bank, today announced that it has expanded its Global Depositary Note (GDN) product capabilities to Ghanaian government debt securities. Ghana represents the 22nd country, globally, in which Citi facilitates access to local debt securities via its GDN depositary bank function.
GDNs are a debt security version of the traditional equity-based depositary receipt (DR) structure, facilitating convenient cross-border access to local debt securities for broker-dealers and institutional investors, namely in the United States for qualified institutional buyers (within the meaning of Rule 144A) and outside the United States for non-U.S. persons (within the meaning of Regulation S). GDNs represent particular local debt securities, replicating the characteristics of the respective local bonds while trading in U.S. dollar terms and settling in Euroclear, Clearstream or the Depository Trust Company (DTC).
Citi launched its first GDN program in Peru in 2007 and has since expanded its product offering to contemplate debt securities issued in 21 additional countries, including the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Jamaica and Panama (in the Latin America region); Ghana, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda and Turkey (in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region); and Vietnam (in the Asia Pacific region).
“We are delighted to extend our GDN depositary bank capabilities to Ghanaian government debt securities.” said Dirk Jones, Head of Global Issuer Services at Citi. “The GDN program provides international investors with an additional mechanism through which to access the local bond market in Ghana.”
The Government of Ghana is supportive of initiatives that are aligned with our objective to continuously develop the domestic capital market,” said Hon. Deputy Minister, Charles Adu Boahen of the Ministry of Finance. “The GDN product is an example of such an initiative, as it is designed to promote liquidity and investor diversification of Government debt securities.”
Citi is a leading provider of depositary receipt services. With depositary receipt programs in 62 markets, spanning equity and fixed-income products, Citi leverages its global network to provide cross-border capital market access to issuers, intermediaries and investors.
ENDURANCE OKAFOR
