The bank’s leadership in conventional and innovative financing was evident through its ability to execute landmark transactions that not only raised capital but also advanced policy objectives such as sustainability, digitalisation and social inclusion.
“Despite the dynamic macroeconomic environment in 2024, HSBC continued to prioritise the most strategic needs of the public sector,” says Himesh Patel, head of public sector Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
“Beyond traditional funding, we used our global platform to deliver diversified financing through sukuks, local currency, and export credit agency and development finance institute-backed financing. We built on the growing need for the public sector to mobilise private capital by strengthening our partnerships with a number of multilateral development banks through risk-sharing products and co-creation of funds.”
Winning 16 mandates from 13 different sovereigns in Europe across 2024, the joint highest, according to HSBC, of any bank in 2024, the bank also executed 65 infrastructure financing transactions globally, including export and agency finance, at a value of $6.4 billion.
HSBC’s performance reflects not only volume and reach but also deep strategic alignment with public policy objectives
Notably, HSBC led the world’s first multi-currency digital bond for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in February 2024, distributed across Hong Kong dollars, US dollars, renminbi and euros using its Orion digital assets platform. This milestone advanced the digitalisation of sovereign funding while expanding global investor access.
“Public sector client relationships are long-term in nature and supporting first-of-a-kind projects leads to the creation of new markets over time,” says Asif Sherani, head of public sector debt capital markets and head of DCM syndicate EMEA at HSBC. “Delivering digital bonds for HKMA and EIB through HSBC’s Orion platform, as well as the largest outcome bond to date for the World Bank, exemplifies this.”
Green fingers
In sustainability, HSBC structured the largest-ever outcome bond for the World Bank and Mombak – a $225 million transaction to support Amazon reforestation efforts. The bond mobilised $35.7 million in carbon removal-linked financing, demonstrating HSBC’s capacity to create new instruments aligned with environmental, social and governance goals and carbon abatement pathways.
Through its partnership with the International Finance Corporation, HSBC launched a $1 billion risk-sharing facility to boost trade in 20 emerging markets, at least 20% of which is earmarked for state-owned banks – strengthening the real economy across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
HSBC was also instrumental in helping sovereign clients navigate volatile capital markets. The bank advised the UK on the new Labour government’s first conventional gilt syndication – an £8 billion bond with record demand. It supported Saudi Arabia in a SR64 billion ($17 billion) sukuk refinancing and managed major liability management exercises for Uruguay and Cyprus.
The bank also scaled up efforts to drive multilateral development bank reform, working closely with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to deliver financing across Panama and Brazil, and the Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement in west Africa. In total, HSBC supported $83.1 billion in capital market issuance as joint lead manager in 2024 and participated in 48% of MIGA-backed deals for the year.
HSBC’s performance reflects not only volume and reach but also deep strategic alignment with public policy objectives – climate resilience, digital transformation, inclusive finance and sovereign resilience. Its global execution capabilities and willingness to structure first-of-a-kind transactions solidify its position as the public sector’s trusted partner in a complex world.
