The Singapore dollar market is not a natural home for European borrowers looking to raise capital. So when ABN Amro group treasurer Erik Bosmans suggested to colleagues that the bank should access the Asian currency, he was met with a combination of concern and scepticism.
Mr Bosmans worked in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2008 however, and during that time he built up a network of contacts across the financial sector. In the first few months of this year, he was told with some authority that the Singapore dollar market was opening up for non-Asian issuers. At the time, few major European borrowers had tapped this market, but private banking money was flooding into Singapore, its importance as a hub for Asian wealth was increasing and demand for income-bearing assets was growing.