Latest news on Green bonds and socially responsible investment

SRI / Green Bonds

BlackRock’s Fink backs net zero, leaves responsibility to clients

BlackRock wants to move a long way towards catching up with leading investors in its response to climate change, its CEO Larry Fink indicated in his annual letter to chief executives on Tuesday. BlackRock stopped short of setting a net zero carbon emissions target for its $8.7tr of assets under management, or committing to swift decarbonisation. But it did publish a ‘net zero commitment’ saying it would “support the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner”.

26 Jan 2021

SRI / Green Bonds

BNP Paribas, CS and ING to cut Amazon oil financing

Three of the most active banks in financing oil exports from the Ecuadorian Amazon — an environmentally destructive industry with a long track record of trampling on indigenous people’s rights — have agreed to cease important parts of their financial support, after pressure from NGOs and a devastating oil spill in 2020.

25 Jan 2021
SSA

Hong Kong pushes out maturities with triple-tranche green trade

The Hong Kong government cemented its green credentials further this week with a $2.5bn triple-tranche bond outing.

27 Jan 2021
Corp

Adani Ports prices tight bond despite weight of mining ties

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone managed to seal its $500m 10 year deal inside of fair value on Tuesday, despite concerns from some investors about the company's environmental and social record.

27 Jan 2021
SRI / Green Bonds

Smurfit Kappa seals five green promises with loan

Smurfit Kappa, the Irish paper and cardboard packaging company, has signed its first sustainability-linked loan for €1.35bn, at the same time as setting new targets to reduce its carbon footprint and water use and employ more women.

27 Jan 2021
CLO/CDO

Partners prices ESG CLO but spread is slow in US market

Partners Group has returned to the US CLO market this year pricing a rare CLO including an ESG factor screen, a trend which is sweeping international market and which is slowly gaining traction in the US.

26 Jan 2021

green and social bonds and loans

Smurfit Kappa seals five green promises with loan

Smurfit Kappa, the Irish paper and cardboard packaging company, has signed its first sustainability-linked loan for €1.35bn, at the same time as setting new targets to reduce its carbon footprint and water use and employ more women.

27 Jan 2021
ANZ prints sophomore sustainable tier two in euros

ANZ returned to the euro market with a tier twovlinked to the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG) this week — going on to print a deal that was over three times covered at guidance.

27 Jan 2021
IDB Invest preps debut sustainability bond

IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, is preparing to issue the first bond under its new sustainability debt framework.

27 Jan 2021
Hong Kong pushes out maturities with triple-tranche green trade

The Hong Kong government cemented its green credentials further this week with a $2.5bn triple-tranche bond outing.

27 Jan 2021
Partners prices ESG CLO but spread is slow in US market

Partners Group has returned to the US CLO market this year pricing a rare CLO including an ESG factor screen, a trend which is sweeping international market and which is slowly gaining traction in the US.

26 Jan 2021
France’s green bond issuance to reach up to €15bn in 2021

The Agence France Trésor (AFT), the French sovereign debt office, has announced that it will issue up to €15bn of green bonds this year, a sharp increase in supply from last year.

26 Jan 2021
EU storms through SURE return as sovs line up in euro market

The European Union wrapped up its first bond of 2021 under the Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) funding programme in style with a quick execution and another impressively sized order book.

26 Jan 2021
Ziraat Bank out for sustainability bond debut

Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Ziraat Bankası is in the market for its first ever sustainability bond — a five year dollar benchmark.

26 Jan 2021

More on Green and Social Bonds and Loans

Responsible investing

Adani Ports prices tight bond despite weight of mining ties

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone managed to seal its $500m 10 year deal inside of fair value on Tuesday, despite concerns from some investors about the company's environmental and social record.

27 Jan 2021
BlackRock’s Fink backs net zero, leaves responsibility to clients

BlackRock wants to move a long way towards catching up with leading investors in its response to climate change, its CEO Larry Fink indicated in his annual letter to chief executives on Tuesday.

26 Jan 2021
ECB launches climate centre as central banks ramp up green work

The European Central Bank will use a new climate change centre to improve its work on the topic, while also investing in a new green bond fund set up by the Bank for International Settlements.

25 Jan 2021
BNP Paribas, CS and ING to cut Amazon oil financing

Three of the most active banks in financing oil exports from the Ecuadorian Amazon — an environmentally destructive industry with a long track record of trampling on indigenous people’s rights — have agreed to cease important parts of their financial support, after pressure from NGOs and a devastating oil spill in 2020.

25 Jan 2021
MPs call on Bank of England to take lead by greening QE

A cross-party group of UK members of Parliament has written to Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, calling on the Bank to start greening its quantitative easing and Covid support programmes.

25 Jan 2021
Energy firms facing insolvency bank on ABS

Securitization is emerging as the last resort for some US oil and gas companies seeking funding.

21 Jan 2021

The Sustainable Economy

Wave of consolidation to strengthen PACE securitization

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) lenders are starting to hear rumblings of consolidation in the industry, a sign of a maturing industry.

27 Jan 2021
Deutsche Bahn turns screws on sterling spread

Deutsche Bahn, the German state railway company, launched a £300m bond at a wafer thin spread on Wednesday, but investor demand still more than twice covered the deal.

27 Jan 2021
China Education nets HK$2bn from top-up

China Education Group Holdings has sealed a HK$2.03bn ($261.3m) top-up placement, raising capital for the expansion of its school network.

27 Jan 2021
Evergrande New Energy Vehicle surges on HK$26bn share sale

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group's share price soared over 50% on Monday after the firm sold HK$26bn ($3.35bn) of new stock to a handful of Chinese high net worth investors.

25 Jan 2021
Inauguration snack, stimulus plan under attack, on class people look back

This week in Keeping Tabs: disagreement over stimulus in the US, a treat for the end of Trump, and how people present their backgrounds.

22 Jan 2021
Credit Suisse's SSAF selects seven

Credit Suisse has made seven appointments within its sustainability strategy, advisory and finance (SSAF) unit:.

22 Jan 2021
Santander pins corporate finance strategy on ESG

Santander reckons it can harness the power of hydrogen to boost its standing in corporate and investment banking, building on its ESG credentials in similar way to how rivals built supremacy during the internet boom, writes David Rothnie.

21 Jan 2021

Comment

Will direct lenders prove to be wolves in sheep’s clothing?

Direct lenders and debt funds have always pitched themselves as closer partners for businesses than banks, bondholders, or other institutional lenders.

26 Jan 2021
Inauguration snack, stimulus plan under attack, on class people look back

This week in Keeping Tabs: disagreement over stimulus in the US, a treat for the end of Trump, and how people present their backgrounds.

22 Jan 2021
Santander pins corporate finance strategy on ESG

Santander reckons it can harness the power of hydrogen to boost its standing in corporate and investment banking, building on its ESG credentials in similar way to how rivals built supremacy during the internet boom, writes David Rothnie.

21 Jan 2021
US banks face impossible questions on China

The relationship between the US and China, which has faced immense strain during Donald Trump’s presidency, is unlikely to get too much relief under the Biden administration.

20 Jan 2021
Eurostar's begging letter shows tunnel vision

Eurostar, the company which runs trains through the Channel Tunnel between London and Europe, is angling for a UK government-backed bailout loan.

19 Jan 2021
Securitization can help the UK but the government must do its part

Securitization can play a part in the UK’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic but it needs the government to keep the housing market alive.

19 Jan 2021

People & markets

New CFPB leader may have 'deleterious' impact on ABS market

Rohit Chopra has been named the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, putting an end to three years of deregulation and kicking off an era of aggressive consumer protection.

25 Jan 2021
ECB launches climate centre as central banks ramp up green work

The European Central Bank will use a new climate change centre to improve its work on the topic, while also investing in a new green bond fund set up by the Bank for International Settlements.

25 Jan 2021
BNP Paribas, CS and ING to cut Amazon oil financing

Three of the most active banks in financing oil exports from the Ecuadorian Amazon — an environmentally destructive industry with a long track record of trampling on indigenous people’s rights — have agreed to cease important parts of their financial support, after pressure from NGOs and a devastating oil spill in 2020.

25 Jan 2021
MPs call on Bank of England to take lead by greening QE

A cross-party group of UK members of Parliament has written to Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, calling on the Bank to start greening its quantitative easing and Covid support programmes.

25 Jan 2021

Governance

New CFPB leader may have 'deleterious' impact on ABS market

Rohit Chopra has been named the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, putting an end to three years of deregulation and kicking off an era of aggressive consumer protection.

25 Jan 2021
US banks face impossible questions on China

The relationship between the US and China, which has faced immense strain during Donald Trump’s presidency, is unlikely to get too much relief under the Biden administration.

20 Jan 2021
Institutional investors look set to suffocate bitcoin’s radical past

The emergence of institutional money into bitcoin is the death knell for its revolutionary dreams of a decentralised economic system.

12 Jan 2021
Chinese IPOs in US still on despite NYSE flip-flops

The New York Stock Exchange’s flip-flop on whether to delist three Chinese telecommunications giants caused plenty of confusion in the market this week, but mainland companies are still keen to sell shares in the US.

07 Jan 2021

Health and biotech

Hyderabad airport soars in bond comeback

GMR Hyderabad International Airport swooped into the bond market on Tuesday for $300m, adding money to its coffers ahead of an expectation of a revival in passenger growth.

27 Jan 2021
ABS issuers bet investors will keep binging

New deals are flooding into the European securitization market, especially the UK, in the last week of January after two RMBS issues attracted unprecedented demand.

26 Jan 2021
Will direct lenders prove to be wolves in sheep’s clothing?

Direct lenders and debt funds have always pitched themselves as closer partners for businesses than banks, bondholders, or other institutional lenders.

26 Jan 2021
JD Sports exploring equity raise

JD Sports, the UK sporting equipment retailer, is looking at the possibility of raising equity capital to help it through the next few months of Covid-19 lockdowns and to take advantage of investment opportunities in the future.

26 Jan 2021