Latest stories on Socially Responsible Investments

• Bel sells first sustainability-linked Euro PP notes

  

  The Bel Group, the French cheese company behind brands Babybel and The Laughing Cow, has become the first company to issue Euro private placement (Euro PP) notes with sustainability-linked margins, following in the footsteps of the loan market, the Schuldschein market and subsequently the bond market.

  • 17 Oct 2019

• Chilean Arauco plots sustainability bond

  

  Celulosa Arauco y Constitución, the Chilean pulp and wood panel producer, is looking to issue what it describes as a “sustainability” bond, as Chile’s focus on environmental topics spreads to the corporate world.

  • 17 Oct 2019

• EU aims for green taxonomy agreement by December

  

  EU institutions are set to start final negotiations on draft regulation for the Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities next week. Disagreement over nuclear energy and the amount of power given to the European Parliament might make the discussions thorny.

  • 17 Oct 2019

• ING Poland looks to euros after green covereds

  

  ING Poland has issued its first covered bond, a deal secured on green assets denominated in zloty. The issuer plans to return early next year with its first euro denominated green covered bond in benchmark size, said chief executive Boda Miroslaw,

  • 17 Oct 2019

• NordLB's first renewable energy covered

  

  NordLB Luxembourg Covered Bond Bank has mandated joint leads for a roadshow to market the first renewable energy covered bond to be issued under the country’s new lettres de gage énergies renouvelables legal framework. A trade is expected to follow soon.

  • 17 Oct 2019

• E.On and Engie sooth jitters over wider spreads

  

  E.On and Engie pushed ahead with tightly priced deals on Thursday, easing concerns from earlier in the week that ZF Freidrichshafen’s widely priced bonds would create a new level for issuance.

  • 17 Oct 2019

• Covered bond trio pounce on higher yields

  

  Three covered bond issuers took advantage of a rise in yields, following what seemed a breakthrough in Brexit negotiations, to issue transactions that would not have been well received two weeks ago. Banca Popolare dell’Alto Adige’s debut and Sparkasse Hannover’s sub-benchmark deals delivered positive returns, while demand for a slightly negative-yielding benchmark from Sparebanken Sør Boligkreditt was boosted by its green credentials.

  • 17 Oct 2019

• ADB prices aggressively to extend euro green curve

  Asian Development Bank came tight to its curve as it printed its second euro green bond this week — and its largest — following its debut last year.

  • 17 Oct 2019

• Hong Kong green body eyes GBA boost

  

  China’s Greater Bay Area has become a focus area for bankers, corporations and regulators. Ma Jun, one of China’s most prominent experts on green financing, thinks it could also become a green hub.

  • 17 Oct 2019

• IIA sees growth in fixed income and ESG

  

  The Index Industry Association (IIA) has pointed to growth in the fixed income and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) index segments, despite a fall in the overall number of indices globally.

  • 16 Oct 2019

• CEOs huddle to unlock climate investment

  Faced with an estimated bill of $2.6tr a year to finance meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, the heads of 30 companies have to work together to ease the blockages to greater investment

  • 18 Oct 2019

• Final Word: Felipe Larraín

  Finance ministers must take decisive action on climate change

  • 18 Oct 2019

• Final Word: Henrik Normann, Nordic Investment Bank

  

  Sustainable finance is not just about green

  • 17 Oct 2019

• Towards a decarbonised future

  

  The European Investment Bank has set out a strategy for lending that will support the EU’s goal of decarbonising the economy by financing investments that cut emissions, combat climate change and support alternatives to fossil fuels.

  • 17 Oct 2019

• Germany puts EIB’s climate ambition at risk with push for loopholes

  The EIB’s hopes of becoming Europe’s ‘climate bank’ and its leadership role among multilateral development banks in moving to a cleaner economy are at risk if conservative country shareholders demand further weakening of its new Energy Lending Policy that would ban nearly all fossil fuel lending

  • 17 Oct 2019

• Multilaterals accused of funding forest destruction

  Multilateral development banks including the International Finance Corporation and those covering Latin America and African have been accused of funding schemes that lead a loss of tree cover despite their environmental pledges

  • 17 Oct 2019

• China’s Ma calls for action from MDBs on green financing

  Ma Jun, a green activist who also sits on the monetary policy committee of the Chinese central bank, tells GlobalMarkets that multilateral development banks need to focus on risk mitigation, reduce the risk of default on demonstration projects and help local banks deliver more lending if they want to deliver on financing green infrastructure

  • 17 Oct 2019

• SG, Mariner bring new impact securitization structure

  

  Société Générale has engaged in a $3.4bn synthetic securitization and pledged to reinvest some of the freed-up capital to increase its ‘positive impact finance’ lending. The investor, New York hedge fund Mariner Investment Group, has given it a financial incentive to go even further.

  • 16 Oct 2019

• Harnessing the financial markets to scale up humanitarian aid

  

  There are justifiable fears around the humanitarian aid sector using the capital markets but if executed well it will allow charities and development agencies to bring in much more funding.

  • 15 Oct 2019

• The biggest boom will be the unavoidable one

  

  Adapting to climate change is going to cost many trillions. Yet so far, only a trickle of money is being put towards it. What is causing this baffling blockage in financial markets, and how can it be unlocked?

  • 15 Oct 2019

• KfW offers rare positive yield while ADB prints biggest green in euros

  

  Investors pounced on the opportunity to buy a bond with a positive yield in the euro market by KfW on Tuesday. Elsewhere, the Asian Development Bank drew strong demand to sell its biggest ever green bond in euros following its debut in 2018.

  • 15 Oct 2019

• What’s wrong with good old green?

  

  Running in parallel with the rapid growth of the green bond market have been the numerous labels for these bonds. But the abundance of green labels risks confusing investors and diluting an important vehicle to finance projects to clean up the planet.

  • 15 Oct 2019

• LSE defines new green bond class, consults on transition bonds

  

  The London Stock Exchange has created a new class of sustainability-themed debt security, through looking at the totality of an issuer’s revenue, and is consulting on creating a segment for transition bonds. It has also designed a label for green equity issuers.

  • 14 Oct 2019

• Caffil to issue first green public sector covered bond

  

  Caisse Francaise de Financement Local (Caffil) has mandated leads for a roadshow to present its new green covered bond framework that, unlike its peers, is secured on public sector assets.

  • 14 Oct 2019

• Investors keen on Créd Ag green senior bond

  

  Crédit Agricole launched a non-preferred senior bond on Monday in green format, attracting investors who put in over €2.3bn of orders at guidance.

  • 14 Oct 2019

• EBRD EUR500m 0% Oct 24 green transition bond

  • 11 Oct 2019

• LSE brands its motley herd green

  

  What do cardboard boxes, plastic pipes and genetically improved pigs have in common?

  • 11 Oct 2019

• Enel shows euro funds buy into sustainability coupon ratchet

  

  Enel, the Italian power and gas company that is the first, and only, issuer of bonds with sustainability-linked coupons, proved this week that the structure appeals to European green-minded investors, by raising €2.5bn at a spread several basis points tighter than it could have achieved with a normal bond. Jon Hay and Mike Turner report.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• BNG USD1bn 1.5% Oct 24 sustainability bond

  • 10 Oct 2019

• Sunrun returns with solar ABS offering

  

  Residential solar finance company Sunrun is preparing a $312.4m deal backed by a portfolio of leases and power purchase agreements, the first time the issuer has tapped the ABS market twice in a one year.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• CMU gets a makeover — EU proposes revamp and policy shift

  

  A report commissioned by European Union member states suggests rebranding the Capital Markets Union (CMU) a “Savings and Sustainable Investment Union”. Specific proposals include all large sovereign borrowers issuing green bonds, facilitating IPO access for smaller companies, and a group of select countries readying to harmonise insolvency rules.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• Investors slake thirst as Pepsi goes green

  Dollar market stalwart PepsiCo took centre stage in an otherwise subdued week for new US bond issuance, as it pleased investors with its green debut.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• EBRD and Ireland go head to head for green euros

  

  The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Ireland faced off in the euro green bond market on Thursday.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• UK pension funds spur supras to sell sterling green

  

  The sterling SSA green bond market is going from strength to strength, buoyed by new legislation requiring pension funds to disclose their environmental, social and governance strategies.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• CMU is dead, long live the CMU

  

  The branding may be on the way out, but there are plenty of reasons to be encouraged about the potential for real progress in the next phase of the Capital Markets Union.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• IMF urges ESG reform to unlock green bond investment

  

  Regulators must tighten the rules and standardise definitions surrounding sustainable financial assets such as green bonds to attract demand from investors worried by greenwashing, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• People moves in brief

  

  UBS names levfin head — Mizuho finds four high yield bankers — Fintech firm Nivaura gives role to ex-HSBC syndicator

  • 10 Oct 2019

• IDA wins blow-out for euro debut, eyes $10bn-$15bn programme

  

  The International Development Association made a huge splash this week with its first euro benchmark. The supranational is aiming to carve out a large and diversified funding programme consisting of various currencies and private placements.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• Credit Suisse spying affair shows European banking has a succession crisis

  

  One of the lessons from the Credit Suisse spy scandal is that there is a dearth of talent capable of leading Europe’s banks through their most challenging period. A succession crisis looms, writes David Rothnie.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• Trading hits the million mark in Nasdaq ESG futures

  

  Trading in Nasdaq’s Stockholm ESG equity index futures has surpassed 1m contracts in the year since their launch, as investors clamour for sustainable investment tools.

  • 10 Oct 2019

• ADB goes for double with dollars and green sterling

  

  Asian Development Bank hit the market twice on Thursday, grabbing $3bn of five year paper and selling its debut green bond — a £250m seven year trade.

  • 10 Oct 2019

SRI News Archive