Hong Kong has raised $1bn in its debut Islamic bond issue, the city’s latest move to broaden its markets amid increased competition from rival financial centres.
香港首次发售了伊斯兰债券，筹资10亿美元，这是随着来自其他金融中心的竞争加剧，香港拓宽市场的最新举措。
Its sukuk issue is the first by a AAA-rated government, and attracted almost $5bn in orders. Nearly half the available debt was sold to Asia-based investors while a third went to Middle Eastern funds.
这是全球首批由获AAA评级的政府推出的伊斯兰债券(sukuk)，吸引了近50亿美元的认购资金。近一半的债券出售给了亚洲投资者，三分之一债券出售给了中东地区的基金。

By pricing the five-year sukuk at just 23 basis points over US Treasuries, Hong Kong also achieved the lowest spread for a US dollar bond in Asia excluding Japan.
香港此次发售的债券期限为5年，收益率与美国国债相比仅多23个基点，是日本以外亚洲地区所发行的美元债券与美国国债最窄的收益率差距。
As the Hong Kong government typically runs a large annual surplus, the capital raised is not required for funding purposes. However, authorities in the territory are keen to tap into the opportunities in the Islamic bond market in Asia, which has centred largely on Malaysia.
香港政府通常每年都会积累较大额盈余，不需要为特定目的筹集资金。然而，香港政府热切希望利用亚洲伊斯兰债券市场发展带来的机会。亚洲伊斯兰债券市场基本上以马来西亚为中心。
“Hong Kong has seen an opportunity to step in and fill a gap in the market,” said Karby Leggett, head of capital markets for Greater China and northeast Asia at Standard Chartered. “With this issue, they’ve . . . proved that this market works.”
渣打银行(Standard Chartered)大中华区及东北亚资本市场主管卡尔比•莱格特(Karby Leggett)表示：“香港看到了进入这个市场填补空缺带来的机遇。通过此次发售，他们已经……证明，这个市场是有效的。”
Sharia-compliant bonds – which involve debt structured so as to offer a return without technically paying interest – are a fast-growing area in global markets. So far this year, $28.4bn has been raised through sukuks, according to Dealogic, a 30 per cent increase on the same period in 2013.
伊斯兰债券包含特别结构，以便在技术上不能派息的情况下为投资者提供回报，它在全球市场快速发展。Dealogic的数据显示，今年迄今，全球通过发行伊斯兰债券筹资284亿美元，较去年同期增长30%。
The UK became the first western country to issue a sukuk earlier this year, while South Africa and Luxembourg are both poised to follow suit.
今年早些时候，英国成为首个发行伊斯兰债券的西方国家。南非和卢森堡都准备发行伊斯兰债券。
Goldman Sachs has also revived its own sukuk plans, which would make it only the third global bank to issue Islamic-compliant debt, following in the footsteps of HSBC and Nomura.
高盛(Goldman Sachs)也重拾发售伊斯兰债券的计划，这将让它成为继汇丰(HSBC)和野村(Nomura)之后，第三家发售伊斯兰债券的全球性银行。
John Tsang, Hong Kong’s financial secretary, said the successful sukuk sale was proof the city was now a “viable option” for Islamic law-compliant fundraising.
香港财政司司长曾俊华(John Tsang)表示，此次成功发售伊斯兰债券证明，在香港进行符合伊斯兰教规的筹资活动是“可行的”。
“I hope that the sukuk issuance will catalyse the further growth of the sukuk market in Hong Kong by encouraging more issuers and investors to participate in our market,” Mr Tsang said.
曾俊华表示：“我希望，此次伊斯兰债券发售将鼓励更多的发行主体和投资者参与到我们的市场，从而促进香港伊斯兰债券市场的进一步发展。”
Hong Kong has been looking at a range of steps to improve the competitiveness of its markets and attract business from elsewhere in the region.
香港一直在寻求采取一系列举措来提高其市场竞争力，吸引其他亚洲地区的企业。
In July, the Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong’s market regulator, announced plans to overhaul the city’s rules governing real estate investment trusts, or Reits.
今年7月，香港市场监管机构——香港证监会(Securities and Futures Commission)宣布了修改《房地产投资信托基金守则》的计划。
In spite of a long history as a financial centre for the region’s property companies, a number of high-profile Reits have chosen to list in Singapore in the past few years, which many analysts blamed on an outdated Reit code.
尽管香港作为亚洲地区房地产公司的金融中心由来已久，但在过去几年里，许多知名的房地产投资信托基金(Reits)仍选择在新加坡上市，许多分析师将此归咎于香港过时的《房地产投资信托基金守则》。
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, the bourse operator, is also exploring a revamp of its rules to attract more equity listings. Last month it published a 108-page document putting forward various suggestions for public discussion – such as dual-class shares, which are banned under existing regulation.
香港交易所运营商——香港交易及结算所有限公司(Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing,简称港交所)也在研究修改规则以吸引更多公司来港上市。上月，港交所发布了一份108页的文件，提出了双层股权架构等多条建议供公众讨论——按现行法规，同股不同权的架构是不被允许的。
The move followed Alibaba’s decision to take its listing – poised to be one of the largest to date – to New York after Hong Kong rejected its proposed management structure.
在此之前，阿里巴巴(Alibaba)在香港拒绝其提议的管理结构之后选择在纽约上市，它可能成为迄今规模最大的IPO之一。
HKEx spent $2.2bn in 2012 to buy the London Metals Exchange, a key step in its effort to move beyond equities trading and into commodities, foreign exchange and bonds. Coal and metals futures trading is due to be launched by the end of this year.
港交所在2012年斥资22亿美元收购了伦敦金属交易所(LME)，这是其努力从股票交易扩展至大宗商品、外汇和债券交易的关键一步。港交所将在今年年底推出煤炭和金属期货合约。