Banks

With a host of landmark transactions that include the world’s first sustainability-linked loan and the world’s first green digital Schuldschein, Verbund stands out as a pioneering issuer of ESG debt. Most recently, it broke significant new ground by combining normally separate green use of bond proceeds with a sustainability-linked coupon.

Although the biggest issuers of all — the US, Japan and China — remain outside the market for now, sovereign ESG debt has gained real momentum in the past 18 months, as a growing number of developed and emerging market issuers have endorsed green, social and sustainable bonds as part of their financing options. As a result, investors are seizing new opportunities to engage on national pandemic recovery and net zero strategies and targets.

Central banks have become integral to the fight against climate change in financial markets. Participants now expect them to wield their immense influence through many avenues of their work — economic analysis, metrics, supervision, investment and even monetary policy.

While the initial focus of sustainable finance efforts was largely on environmental action, social factors have grown increasingly prominent in recent years — underscored by the establishment of the Social Bond Principles in 2017. Subsequently, Covid and racial tensions in the US have each highlighted social disparities that are leading issuers and investors to treat diversity and inclusion as key parameters too.

With sovereign ESG bonds passing a clear inflection point, sustainability-linked bonds seeing notable growth and acceptance, and social bonds catapulted forward by a key borrower — the European Union (EU) — that is also poised to boost the green bonds market with an unprecedented €250bn programme, sustainable debt capital markets are reaching a new peak of activity across the capital structure from every issuer and credit type. So what’s driving the current boom and what will follow it?

Gunvor, the Swiss energy trading company, has signed an $872.5m guarantee facility. Lenders' demand for assets is so big that the deal was oversubscribed by 45%.

Loomis, the Swedish cash handling company, has signed a €265m-equivalent credit facility, with the borrower maintaining the same level of net bank facility debt.

Shares in Wise, the UK fintech group, had traded up more than 22% by Friday afternoon compared to the price at which it completed the first ever direct listing by a technology unicorn on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Equity bankers hailed the transaction as an alternative route to going public when the IPO market is difficult but the list of companies that could do such a deal is short, writes Aidan Gregory.

Credit Suisse has named veteran investment banker Janice Hu as its new chief executive for China.

Malaysian credit reporting firm CTOS Digital has raised MR1.21bn ($288.9m) after its IPO was subscribed 27.6 times.

Kakao Bank, an online-only South Korean bank, has begun bookbuilding for its up to W2.55tr ($2.2bn) IPO.

Chint Solar, a Chinese photovoltaic module supplier, is making its debut in the offshore market for a dual currency green loan.