The Covered Bond Label Foundation assigned the 100th Label yesterday (Tuesday), with Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation becoming the latest issuer to sign up to the initiative.

OCBC established a $10bn covered bond programme in November, receiving provisional triple-A ratings for an awaited euro-denominated debut issue. Its cover pool is the 100th to be granted the Covered Bond Label. The issuer, which is yet to launch its first covered bond, is the 84th to join the Covered Bond Label.

“We are pleased to see that OCBC Bank has restated its commitment to transparency by recognising the value of the Label for its business and investors globally,” said Luca Bertalot, EMF-ECBC secretary general and Covered Bond Label Foundation administrator.

“Reaching 100 labelled cover pools is an important milestone, which demonstrates issuers’ appetite for the Covered Bond Label and further strengthens the presence of our initiative in a key Asian market.”

OCBC is set to become the third Singaporean issuer in the market, following DBS Bank and United Overseas Bank – which have also signed up to the Label.