log in

Green and Social Bonds and Loans

EU's green bond issuance risks 'falling short'

The EU's plan to issue large volumes of green bonds as part of its recovery plan will shape that market, but it also risks undermining it due to a discrepancy as to what what counts as green, according to two experts.

03.00 PM
EU arrives at long last with mandate for debut SURE bond

The European Union finally hit screens on Monday afternoon to announce the highly anticipated debut syndicated bond under its Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) funding programme.

02.00 PM
Green convertible bonds are here to stay

Equity-linked investors are anticipating further sales of green convertible bond by companies as the nascent asset class continues to grow following a strong run of issuance this year.

16 Oct 2020
Millicom dials in ESG facility as Lat Am turns greener

Millicom International Cellular, the Luxembourg-headquartered telecoms company, has refinanced its main bank credit line with one linked to environmental, social and governance metrics. It claims this is one of the first such deals for Latin America through its reach into the region.

16 Oct 2020
EIB makes climate finance mainstream as taxonomy unlocks standards

The European Union’s new green grammar book is multiplying the impact of climate finance. From funding to lending to innovation, the EU Taxonomy is helping embed climate throughout the European Investment Bank’s activities.

15 Oct 2020
AIIB GBP800m 0.2% Dec 25 sustainable development bond

15 Oct 2020
What EU gonna do now? SSA market debates supersized SURE start

The public sector bond market is alive with debate on one topic: what will the European Union’s highly anticipated debut trade for its colossal Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) funding programme look like? With the deal expected next week, months of questions are about to be answered. Burhan Khadbai reports.

15 Oct 2020
Euro SSA market strong ahead of EU arrival

It was a moderate week for supply in the primary euro public sector bond market but the issuers that did come found ample demand, setting up a decent backdrop for the expected arrival of the European Union’s big borrowing programme next week.

15 Oct 2020
Enel sterling builds on SLB market, govs and banks to follow

Enel, the Italian energy company, printed the first sustainability-linked bond in sterling this week well through its curve, sparking expectations of far wider issuance in the still fledgling market.

15 Oct 2020
Woori Bank debuts in Aussie dollars with Covid bond

South Korea’s Woori Bank sold its first Kangaroo bond on Thursday, raising A$400m to help fund its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

15 Oct 2020
AIIB rolls out second currency for benchmark issuance with sterling debut

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank achieved a strong result as it made its debut in the sterling bond market on Wednesday, making it the second currency in which the Beijing-based supranational has issued a benchmark transaction.

14 Oct 2020
Woori seeks Covid-19 relief in Kangaroo mart

Woori Bank is preparing to make its Kangaroo bond debut, choosing the market to launch its first Covid-19 response bond.

14 Oct 2020
Shinhan Card returns with Covid-relief bond

Shinhan Card Co ended a long hiatus from the dollar bond market on Tuesday as it joined a number of other South Korean borrowers which have turned to the debt market to raise Covid-19 relief funds.

14 Oct 2020
Sustainability-linked bonds could crack transition nut in EM

The recent burst of sustainability-linked bonds could catch on in the emerging markets because they can solve the problem of constructing sustainable financings for companies that are not green yet, but in transition.

13 Oct 2020
Enel prints first sterling SLB

Enel, the Italian energy company, proved that there is sterling demand for sustainability-linked bonds on Tuesday, with the borrower repeating its achievement in dollars and euros by creating the market in the currency.

13 Oct 2020
Cades preps second dollar social bond

Caisse d’Amortissement de la Dette Sociale (Cades) will add a new point on its dollar social bond curve with a 10 year trade on Wednesday, where it will be joined by two other public sector issuers in the currency.

13 Oct 2020
KfW and Paris score in quiet euro SSA market ahead of EU’s arrival

KfW and Ville de Paris grabbed the attention of investors at the opposite ends of the euro curve on Tuesday in what has been a thin week for issuance in the currency by public sector borrowers ahead of the expected arrival of the EU’s first syndicated bond under its Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) funding programme next week.

13 Oct 2020
SSA secondary pricing update: Land NRW and EFSF trade tighter

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, October 12. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services

13 Oct 2020
AFD publishes SDG bond framework

Agence Française de Développement has unveiled a new broader thematic bond framework tied to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will allow it to issue social and sustainable bonds alongside its existing green bonds.

13 Oct 2020
SLB champion Enel plans first sterling trade using structure

Enel, the Italian power and gas company, is set to push the nascent sustainability-linked bond market to a new currency this week after the company mandated for the first deal in the format in sterling.

12 Oct 2020
EU expected to go for size with 10 or 20 year maturity for first SURE bond

The European Union will likely issue a jumbo trade of above €5bn with a 10 or 20 year maturity for the first syndicated bond from its highly anticipated Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) funding programme, with the maiden deal expected to hit screens next week, according to SSA bankers.

12 Oct 2020
Tesco signs £2.5bn facility with risk-free rates from day one

Tesco, the UK grocer, has refinanced its sterling facility with a £2.5bn sustainability-linked deal that uses risk-free rates as a benchmark, as companies try to get to grips with the end of Libor.

09 Oct 2020
SRI supply wave strengthens but no fatigue yet

Green, social and sustainable issuance has dominated the supranational and agency bond market for a whole month, consistently outpacing conventional supply. This week proved another extremely strong one for the asset class.

08 Oct 2020
SGP EUR3bn 0% Nov 30 green bond, EUR3bn 0.7% Oct 60 green bond

08 Oct 2020
Land NRW EUR2.4bn 0% Oct 35 sustainability bond

08 Oct 2020
Record year for Swedish krona SSA bonds

Swedish krona SSA volumes are at a record high this year, spurred on by a handful of jumbo supranational deals sold at wider spreads during the second quarter. However, the market has since tightened, and bankers expect it to have a more muted end to 2020.

08 Oct 2020
People news in brief

ESM's Ruhl seconded to European Commission — Hinterkircher to retire — JP Morgan offers front office investment banking apprenticeships

08 Oct 2020
Unédic impresses with latest social outing

Unédic returned for another social benchmark on Thursday, adding to the slew of successful French agency SRI-themed paper.

08 Oct 2020
Market participants back Green+ Gilt proposal for sustainable Covid-19 recovery

A group of some of the UK's biggest asset managers, professional bodies and banks are supporting a proposal for an SRI-themed UK sovereign debt product to deliver environmental and social benefits as part of the country’s recovery from the pandemic.

08 Oct 2020
Just Group tightens 50bp for green T2 debut

Just Group was met with strong demand for a green tier two in the sterling market on Thursday, allowing it to set a coupon of 7% versus initial price thoughts in the 7.5% area.

08 Oct 2020
ESM’s head of funding to join Commission on secondment

Siegfried Ruhl, the head of funding and investor relations at the European Stability Mechanism, will be seconded to the European Commission later this month as it gears up for its vast borrowing programme.

08 Oct 2020
SRI issuers enjoying strong results in tightening euro mart

Another slew of socially responsible SSA deals hit screens on Wednesday, all achieving impressive size and healthy order books, showing the strength of the market in euros for the borrower class.

07 Oct 2020
EU’s SURE to be 100% funded with social bonds

The EU confirmed on a global investor call on Wednesday that 100% of the funding for its much-anticipated €100bn Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) programme will come in the form of social bonds.

07 Oct 2020
BNPP attracts ‘diverse’ book for green deal

BNP Paribas made use of a conducive backdrop this week to build a strong orderbook for a new green non-preferred senior deal.

07 Oct 2020
Bedford Row hires criminologist as ESG lead

Kevin Haines has joined non-bank originator Bedford Row Capital in order to establish ESG processes.

07 Oct 2020
Star Energy’s rare project bond attracts investors

Indonesia’s Star Energy Geothermal found solid investor demand for Asia’s first dollar-denominated project bond of the year. The deal was helped by the issuer’s investment grade rating and a green label that helped reduce pricing. Morgan Davis reports.

07 Oct 2020
Eni strikes oil with hybrid, considering printing SLB

Eni, the Italian oil and gas company, got blowout demand for its debut hybrid capital issue on Tuesday, as yield-hungry investors pumped about €14bn of orders into the dual tranche trade.

06 Oct 2020
Société du Grand Paris ups funding programme

Société du Grand Paris plans to steam ahead with funding as it announced a doubling of its green EMTN programme and a substantial increase to its 2020 funding programme to help prefund the financing for the next three years of the Grand Paris Express project.

06 Oct 2020
Woori prepares to make Kangaroo bond debut

Woori Bank is set to make its Kangaroo bond debut, seeking to tap the Australian dollar market to fund its coronavirus response.

06 Oct 2020
Tiers for tiers: Just Group to sell green T2, buy back T3

Just Group is hoping to strengthen its capital position by issuing a debut green bond in tier two format this week, while also buying back some of its existing tier three notes.

06 Oct 2020
ESMA supports supervision of green bond raters

Steven Maijoor, chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), has said EU legislation covering green bond reviewers would help ensure the legitimacy of the proposed Green Bond Standard.

05 Oct 2020
Eni, Arkema and Lundbeck line up IG corporate firsts

A trio of firsts are coming to the high grade corporate bond market this week, with a debut hybrid from Italian oil and gas firm Eni, a green first for French chemicals company Arkema and a postponed entry to the Eurobond market for Danish pharmaceutical firm Lundbeck.

05 Oct 2020
SRI wave rolls on through SSA mart

Green, social and sustainable issuance has dominated the supranational and agency bond market for a whole month, consistently outpacing conventional supply. That trend looks set to continue with three SRI deals already on screens.

05 Oct 2020
Responsible investing gains a foothold in US CLOs

A rare environmental, social and governance (ESG) themed CLO was priced this month by Palmer Square Capital Management, setting the tone for the still-early days of ESG securitization in the US and hinting at bigger things to come for socially responsible CLOs.

01 Oct 2020
Cades EUR5bn 0% Feb 28 social bond

01 Oct 2020
BNG EUR1bn 0.01% Oct 32 sustainability bond

01 Oct 2020
Sustainability-linked pricing to reach CBs after green wave

The sustainability-linked debt structure, which has already spread from the loan market to corporate bonds, has made its first appearance in a convertible bond, with a deal by Dürr. CB specialists expect it will take root in that asset class too. Jon Hay and Aidan Gregory report.

01 Oct 2020
‘Trailblazing’ Egypt issues first sovereign green bond in MENA

Egypt this week became the first sovereign issuer in the Middle East and North Africa to issue a green bond. The deal had been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, bankers said, but it gained considerable traction from investors when it was finally brought to market.

01 Oct 2020
Aareal Bank EUR500m 0.5% Apr 27

01 Oct 2020
Egypt USD750m 5.25% Oct 25 green bond

01 Oct 2020