A Swiss franc bond issue of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will be publicly offered in Switzerland on November 25 by a syndicate of leading Swiss banks. The banks will offer at par Sw.Fr. 50,000,000 (approximately $11,600,000) of 3-1/2% 20-year sinking fund bonds. This is the sixth public issue of the Bank in Swiss francs. The Union Bank of Switzerland, Credit Suisse and the Swiss Bank Corporation will head the underwriting group as they did in the previous offerings.
The issue being offered will be known as the 3-1/2% Swiss Franc Bonds of 1955. Interest will be payable annually on January 1, with the first payment due on January l, 1957. The bonds will be repaid at par in ten installments of Sw. Fr. 4,000,000 on January 1 in each of the years 1965 through 1974; and to installments of Sw.Fr. 5,000,000 will be repaid on January 1, 1975 and January 1, 1976.
On and after January 1, 1965, the World Bank may redeem at par all or part of the issue on any interest payment date on 45 days' notice in case of partial redemption and three months' notice for total redemption. The issue will be listed on the stock exchanges of Zurich, Basle, Geneva, Berne and Lausanne.
This is the thirteenth issue of bonds offered publicly by the Bank for currencies other than United States dollars. In addition, the Bank placed two issues privately in Switzerland. The principal amount of these sales including the current Swiss franc issue is equivalent to about 180 million.
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Including the new Swiss issue, the total of World Bank bonds outstanding in currencies other than United States dollars is equivalent to approximately $156 million; the equivalent of $10 million in Swiss franc bonds and of $13.6 million in Canadian dollar bonds has been repaid.
The Bank also has nine United States dollar issues outstanding in an amount of $705 million; and the new Swiss franc issue therefore brings his value of all outstanding bonds up to about $861 million.
