TSMC to list TWD14.8bn green bonds in Taiwan on November 12

By Marcus Bennett

TSMC will list TWD14.8bn ($450mn) of green bonds in Taiwan on November 12, according to Focus Taiwan, which cited the Taipei Exchange (TPEx). The bourse oversees local bond listings on Taiwan’s over-the-counter market.

The dual-tranche sale carries these terms:

• TWD12.4bn of five-year bonds with a 2.30% coupon.
• TWD2.4bn of 10-year bonds with a 2.42% coupon.

TSMC said in a November 3 filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that it had finished pricing the issue. Taishin Securities Co. is the lead underwriter. Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co. is the trustee. The company, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, trades under 2330 on the TWSE and TSM on the NYSE.

The November 3 filing preceded the November 12 listing by nine days. That sequence separates price-setting from the date the securities enter TPEx’s market.

What does the listing change for TSMC?

It provides TWD14.8bn of new funding earmarked for green buildings and environmental protection projects. TSMC said it would spend the money raised on “green buildings and environmental protection projects.”

The offering also fits a wider borrowing plan. TSMC’s board approved plans in February to issue as much as TWD60bn in unsecured domestic bonds during 2026, to fund capacity expansion and green initiatives. The latest sale falls below that ceiling and is the third such sale this year.

The two-tranche structure gives buyers five- and 10-year maturities, with TWD12.4bn in the shorter bond and TWD2.4bn in the longer one. The 10-year coupon stands 12 basis points above the five-year coupon. The gap equals 0.12 percentage points and accompanies five additional years of maturity.

Coupons specify contractual interest payments. Principal falls due when each tranche reaches its stated maturity, while the full sale remains committed to the environmental uses TSMC specified.

TSMC made its debut green bond issue, worth TWD12bn, in December 2020. Its outstanding green bonds now total TWD229.1bn. That makes TSMC the biggest issuer of such debt in Taiwan, according to TPEx.

The chipmaker is also Taiwan’s largest purchaser of renewable energy. That scale of energy purchasing sits alongside its use of green debt for environmental projects.

How large is Taiwan’s green-bond market?

Taiwan first listed green bonds on its over-the-counter market in May 2017. The outstanding value of green bonds issued in Taiwan has since reached TWD604.8bn, TPEx said.

Green bonds trade on Taiwan’s sustainability bond market alongside social bonds, sustainability bonds and sustainability-linked bonds. The wider market has TWD826bn in total outstanding value. Green bonds account for more than 70% of that total, according to TPEx.

Taiwan’s financial regulators and capital markets have pressed companies to sell green bonds as a way to encourage environmentally responsible conduct. The new TSMC listing therefore joins a market structure in which green debt already forms the majority. The issuer specifies a common environmental purpose for the full TWD14.8bn sale.

For investors, the practical terms are amount, maturity and coupon. For TSMC, the listing adds TWD14.8bn of green-bond funding within its 2026 domestic bond plan. The transaction also reinforces its position as Taiwan’s largest green-bond issuer, with TWD229.1bn already outstanding before the new sale.