The proposal added that for the purpose, Finance Division solicits the services of financial advisor(s)/lead manager(s) through an open competitive process. Interested financial institutions are requested to participate in the engagement process.
The participating financial institutions are expected to guide, advise, manage, coordinate and execute the whole range or activities associated with such issuances while following general recommendations in respect of Panda Bond should be provided separately along with the proposals and as and when desired by Finance Division after engagement; (i) size of the bonds with programme size and inaugural issue size under the programme as well as tenor, structure timing or issuance and expected coupon and indicative post swap pricing.
Specific requirements included: (i) information required for evaluation of submitted proposals; (ii) description of'' how Panda Bonds are issued and list of all necessary steps, consents, approvals, registrations, rating requirements that are typically required; (iii) list of relevant parties involved in the transaction, i.e., trustees, registrars, paying agents, issuing brokers etc; (iv) list of all expected expenses tied to the transaction, item wise and including expenses to be borne on behalf of the government; (v) recommendations for external legal counsels for the government; (vi) breakdown of anticipated investor interest (geographic and type of institution), proposed marketing strategy with advice on non-deal and/or deal road show (s); (vii) list of different options available to the government for hedging the Panda Bond in RMB, USD and PKR; (viii) proposed strategy to position Pakistan''s credit in order to achieve the best possible all-in pricing (including fee); (ix) and current market analysis including optimal and detailed timeline for issuance and competing sovereign Panda Bond pipeline. An evaluation committee comprising representatives of the Finance Division and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBPP) will evaluate the technical and financial proposals.