Don’t call it a comeback: UK MBA set to return with ESG labels

The UK’s Municipal Bonds Agency is not going anywhere. Despite a late 2020 curve ball in the form of a 100bp cut to the UK’s Public Works Loan Board lending rate, which undermined the MBA's ability to raise competitive bond market funding on behalf of local councils, the agency has a pipeline of deals coming together, some of which will carry ESG labels for the first time.