Asia Pacific

We are focused on growing our geographic footprint and deepening our presence in key jurisdictions, integrating our offerings on repo and collateral, sustainable finance, FinTech and digitalisation, and capacity building. We have over 100 members across 14 jurisdictions in the region.

Primary markets

In alignment with our global initiatives to promote awareness and development of the Eurobond market, we partnered with Euroclear and Clearstream in the region for an introductory seminar aimed at Chinese financial institutions (mostly potential members) based in Hong Kong.

Our annual Asian international bond markets study report published in March–conducted with the support of the HKMA–is the leading study on the topic and provides global market stakeholders with a detailed overview of bond market structure and issuance trends across Asian jurisdictions.

On invitation from the Hong Kong SFC and HKMA, ICMA contributed to the Debt Issuance WG and Bond Trading and Repo WG set up to advise on the cross-border Chinese bond and offshore RMB collateral markets. The ICMA Asian bond study was mentioned in the HKMA and SFC fixed income and currency (FIC) policy roadmap launched in September.

Secondary markets

We have increased focus on the potential impact of U.S. mandatory clearing rules in Asia-Pacific. We held a webinar with DTCC in October and have conducted market research to member firms actively trading in the cash and repo markets in Asia and other regions. We have also coordinated with other trade associations and research firms active in the space.

In July, ICMA partnered with IOSCO to conduct a workshop on Building Resilient and Efficient Corporate Bond Markets. This initiative, which is part of the overall IOSCO NEXTGEN capacity building program, was targeted at securities regulators from the growth and emerging markets. The workshop was hosted by the IOSCO Asia Pacific Hub in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia joined by securities regulators from 15 jurisdictions.

Korean bond market internationalisation: As requested by the official sector, ICMA has updated its research on offshore investor considerations for Korean treasury bond market trading as operational and infrastructure reforms continue. We presented our findings to the wider market at a conference organised by Korea Securities Depositary in December.

Repo markets

We have been proactively engaging with relevant authorities and its Chinese member firms on the development of China’s onshore repo market and its opening to global investors. ICMA welcomes the efforts of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to broaden access for offshore investors to China’s repo market, including the potential application of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA).

We continue to provide capacity building on repo market infrastructure and legal documentation with the official sector in ASEAN countries, including a major 3-day repo workshop in Jakarta for Bank Indonesia and OJK (the securities regulator), with 200 market participants and regulators in attendance.

In the Philippines, we are active in current reforms of the domestic repo market, in particular to promote the GMRA and expand participants beyond the banking sector. We have closely advised members BSP and Bureau of Treasury and have a prominent role in the establishment of a market SRO and best practices based on the ERCC Guide.

As part of our continued commitment to promote market development around the world, ICMA has over the past years published a series of reports on domestic repo markets in the Asia Pacific region, describing the main features of each market including market infrastructure, types of repo and collateral, market participants, post trade operations and their legal and regulatory frameworks. Jurisdictions covered so far in this series include Australia, China, Japan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam.

Sustainable finance

On carbon markets, much of the recent innovation and infrastructure is driven from Asia. In October we published a global paper on the topic to assess the dynamics of compliance and voluntary markets, and potential implications for the sustainable bond markets.

ICMA maintains key roles in various regional and national committees and working groups (particularly in ASEAN and Japan) on transition finance, taxonomies, and ESG codes of conduct.

FinTech and digitalisation

MAS has appointed ICMA to lead the Guardian Fixed Income Framework workstream in 2025/26. In November, the workstream published further research on DvP settlement and custodial arrangements for tokenised securities.

The Hong Kong government, with support from ICMA, incorporated the Bond Data Taxonomy (BDT) into its third digital green bond offering in November.

ICMA played an active role in both Hong Kong and Singapore fintech festivals; themes mirrored global discussions on digital bond liquidity, stablecoins and CBDC, and impact of AI.

Events

In 2025, we organised a total of 12 events in APAC, including networking sessions under ICMA Women’s Network and ICMA Future Leaders, as well as other ICMA events. These took place in major financial hubs such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, and Shanghai.

The 11th Annual Conference of the Principles in Tokyo focused on the Green, Social, Sustainability, and Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles, which underpin a market representing $6 trillion in securities. The conference provided updates to 2025 guidance, notably on climate transition finance, and facilitated discussions on key topics covering global regulatory developments and market integrity.

We also hosted smaller-scale workshops in Mandarin targeting potential member Chinese firms active in the cross-border markets, including a roundtable on UK–China RMB Sustainable Bonds in Shanghai and a Eurobond seminar in Hong Kong.

Contact: apac@icmagroup.org