Thailand’s finance ministry has set up a committee to explore the development of covered bonds in the country, according to an official at the Thai central bank, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore has said it is “finalising” guidelines on covered bond issuance.

Monetary Authority of Singapore building (left)

According to an official at the Thai central bank, the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO), a part of the ministry of finance, last month established a committee to explore the development of covered bonds in the country. The central bank is a member of this committee.

The move follows a consultation around one year ago when commercial banks were asked about their interest in covered bonds, and is designed to help concretise a possible approach to covered bonds in Thailand, according to the official.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), meanwhile, “is in the process of finalising the Notice on issuance of covered bonds”, an official in the prudential policy department told The Covered Bond Report.

The central bank and financial services regulator published a consultation on covered bond guidelines in March 2012, but has not made any official announcement since then, although it was expected to do so a year ago. The guidelines proposed rules for mortgage backed issuance, including a 2% cap on the size of the cover pool versus total assets.

Moody’s last week noted that although publication of a final guideline by MAS is not a pre-requisite for issuance, “regulatory blessing is a de facto requirement”. The rating agency said that Singapore is expected to publish covered bond guidelines in 2014.