Responsible Investing

  • Citi sustainability: grey heads and millennials

    Citi sustainability: grey heads and millennials

    Citigroup’s new architecture to make its banking, capital markets and advisory (BCMA) group a fitter competitor in sustainability and ESG issues emphasises two channels of communication, according to Manuel Falcó, co-head of BCMA, through the most senior rainmakers and a cadre of younger enthusiasts.

    28 May 2020
  • Deutsche Bank: green laggard… or leader?

    Deutsche Bank: green laggard… or leader?

    Deutsche Bank has become the latest big bank to announce a new sustainable finance target, with an eye-catching commitment to €200bn of financing between now and 2025 — but its policy highlights the difficulty for investors of comparing banks and deciding which are greener.

    26 May 2020

  • First HY debut since virus crisis buoyed by oil storage boom

    Rubis Terminal made the first European high yield debut since the start of the coronavirus crisis, issuing a new €410m bond to fund a minority investment buyout by infrastructure specialist I Squared Capital. Business has boomed at the company, which operates bulk liquid storage, thanks to the collapsing oil price.

    14 May 2020
  • Network Homes looks for PPs as market expects suspended deals to return

    Network Homes looks for PPs as market expects suspended deals to return

    Network Homes is looking for US private placements, according to several market sources. The London housing association is the first of its type to return to the market after a string of prospective PPs were suspended during the initial peak of the pandemic crisis. Sources expect these postponed deals to return shortly.

    13 May 2020
  • Tax misers sell off worse than market in pandemic

    Tax misers sell off worse than market in pandemic

    Companies that pay little tax have suffered worse share price declines during the coronavirus pandemic than the market as a whole — a result that suggests investors may at last be taking notice of this long ignored aspect of corporate governance.

    12 May 2020
  • Plenum looks to insurance sub debt for greater returns

    Plenum looks to insurance sub debt for greater returns

    Plenum Investments, a catastrophe bond fund, is broadening its portfolio to include tier one and tier two debt issued by insurance companies. It is seeking to offer investors a higher risk-return option, and the announcement of the new fund comes at a time when spreads on subordinated insurance debt have widened.

    04 May 2020
  • Lloyds, RBS waive fee for CLBILS lending

    Lloyds, RBS waive fee for CLBILS lending

    Lloyds Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland have decided not to charge clients an arranging fee when lending via the UK’s Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), while HSBC will not charge any early repayment fees.

    30 Apr 2020
  • Bailouts are not just for the virtuous

    Bailouts are not just for the virtuous

    Whole industries are on their knees, desperate for salvation from governments. Moral outrage fills the air, as fortune's wheel turns plutocrats into mendicants. States have the power of life and death — but they must resist the temptation to play God.

    28 Apr 2020
  • Coronavirus intensifies thirst for new responsible capitalism

    Coronavirus intensifies thirst for new responsible capitalism

    The Covid-19 pandemic is an ESG issue. More than ever before, a natural phenomenon is driving markets. Suddenly, social responsibility is no longer kooky but required of all. How are responsible investors reacting — and can the crisis lead to a better model of financial markets, where all stakeholders are considered?

    27 Apr 2020
  • Ebang eyes $100m from US listing

    Ebang eyes $100m from US listing

    China's Ebang International Holdings, a cryptocurrency mining hardware maker, is planning a US IPO that could raise up to $100m. It follows in the footsteps of Canaan Creative, which listed last November but has since seen its stock price tumble about 53%.

    27 Apr 2020
  • No panic: bond mart segregates oil losers from majors, other HY

    No panic: bond mart segregates oil losers from majors, other HY

    Debt investors are distinguishing between strong and weak risks in the oil and gas sector, as huge oversupply threatens to weigh on oil prices, already at multi-decade lows — and for the time being, market participants also expect that worries about energy won't tarnish the whole high yield market.

    23 Apr 2020
  • Oil shocks force Aramco to lead Gulf in cash dash

    Oil shocks force Aramco to lead Gulf in cash dash

    Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, is hunting for a $10bn loan, according to market sources. Plummeting oil prices will send borrowers across the Gulf scrambling to raise financing. But creditors seem happy to plough money into the region, for now. Mariam Meskin reports.

    23 Apr 2020
  • Oil havoc threatens industry’s access to capital

    Oil havoc threatens industry’s access to capital

    The oil industry’s ability to raise money in capital markets is coming under severe strain, as the coronavirus pandemic is forcing all analysts to tear up their assumptions and bringing unprecedented volatility in prices.

    21 Apr 2020
  • Deutsche sets up sustainable finance team to go beyond green bonds

    Deutsche sets up sustainable finance team to go beyond green bonds

    Deutsche Bank has set up an inter-disciplinary sustainable finance team in its capital markets group, aiming to be “viewed as [a] market leader on this important subject”, as it senses that clients, including big oil and gas companies, are having increasingly to consider environmental and social issues to access the capital markets.

    20 Apr 2020
  • World Bank pandemic bond finally triggers

    World Bank pandemic bond finally triggers

    The pandemic bond issued by the World Bank, which supports a pandemic financing facility for poorer countries, has now met the conditions to pay out, GlobalCapital understands.

    17 Apr 2020
  • Petronas makes rare dollar outing for $6bn jumbo bond

    Petronas makes rare dollar outing for $6bn jumbo bond

    Malaysian oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) made its mark on the dollar bond market on Tuesday, raising $6bn from a deal that received orders of $37bn at its peak. This was despite a ratings outlook change to negative this week and headwinds from the Covid-19 pandemic and volatile oil prices.

    15 Apr 2020
  • India’s Adani returns to the PP market for more

    India’s Adani returns to the PP market for more

    Adani Transmission has raised a further $90m US private placement, according to market sources, after it became earlier this year the first Indian company to raise debt in the market since 2007.

    06 Apr 2020
  • Imperial Tobacco signs new RCF, no plans for drawdown

    Imperial Tobacco signs new RCF, no plans for drawdown

    The UK's Imperial Brands, formerly Imperial Tobacco, has signed a new €3.5bn three year multi-currency revolving credit facility, slightly increasing its main bank line, despite not having plans to draw down.

    31 Mar 2020
  • Bankers get the orders to steer clear of aircraft ABS

    Bankers get the orders to steer clear of aircraft ABS

    Many investment banks are circulating orders for bankers not fund any committed debt transactions in the aircraft sector, including ABS deals, a decision spurred by market volatility from Covid-19. On top of restrictions on in-person meetings, macro factors such as city lockdowns and travel bans are putting a damper on the new issue pipeline.

    19 Mar 2020
  • Suek braves volatility to re-enter market

    Suek braves volatility to re-enter market

    Siberian Coal Energy Co (Suek) is seeking financing from lenders, according to two market sources. The borrower is braving lenders' wariness about coal companies, which last year weighed on demand for a Suek loan, and the global volatility caused by the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

    19 Mar 2020
  • CMBS has big exposure to airline, oil and gas industries

    CMBS has big exposure to airline, oil and gas industries

    The US CMBS market, with its heavy dependence on corporate tenants to keep the cash flows to bond holders coming, is being buffeted by the turmoil stemming from the crisis in recent weeks, with the market exposed across dozens of deals to two particularly ailing sectors — airlines and oil and gas firms.

    17 Mar 2020
  • Sasol reveals plan to raise $2bn of capital

    Sasol reveals plan to raise $2bn of capital

    Sasol, the South African chemicals company, has unveiled a $6bn package of measures designed to shore up its business, which has been damaged by the spread of the Covid-19 virus and the collapse in oil prices.

    17 Mar 2020
  • BAT breaks new ground in first multicurrency risk-free rate loan

    BAT breaks new ground in first multicurrency risk-free rate loan

    British American Tobacco has signed the first multicurrency revolving credit facility that uses a variety of risk-free rates as benchmarks, potentially clearing a hurdle that loan market participants have long said was hindering the transition from Libor.

    12 Mar 2020
  • Aston Martin rights issue under threat after share price crash

    Aston Martin rights issue under threat after share price crash

    Aston Martin, the troubled UK car maker, was set to launch a rights issue process next week, but severe equity market volatility means that the company’s shares are now trading below the subscription price in the capital raise. Sources are now questioning whether a deal is viable.

    12 Mar 2020
  • EU Taxonomy a mix of soft and strong, clear and vague

    EU Taxonomy a mix of soft and strong, clear and vague

    The European Union’s Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities, the latest draft of which was released on Monday, has been hailed by promoters as the opening of a new chapter in responsible investing. But the document is complex and much will depend on how market participants use it.

    10 Mar 2020
  • EU Taxonomy and Green Bond Standard: sneak peek

    EU Taxonomy and Green Bond Standard: sneak peek

    The European Commission's Technical Expert Group will be publishing its much-awaited Taxonomy and Green Bond Standard on Monday. GlobalCapital has received leaked copies from a source in Brussels. The GBS endorses a use of proceeds approach and limits the inclusion of operating expenditure. The Taxonomy contains reassurance for companies whose activities are not yet covered by it and sets out human rights standards.

    06 Mar 2020
  • Taxonomy coming on Monday

    Taxonomy coming on Monday

    Sustainable finance specialists are waiting eagerly to see the precise details of the European Union's Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities, the next draft of which will be revealed on Monday.

    06 Mar 2020
  • Insurance-linked securities: how to make them ESG friendly

    Insurance-linked securities: how to make them ESG friendly

    The World Bank and Assicurazioni Generali are each giving the insurance-linked securities (ILS) they issue a sustainability label, as the market attempts to burnish its credentials for investors concerned with environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. Both issuers are imitating conventional green bond programmes by focusing on direct use of proceeds, but there are also debates around issues such as freed-up insurance capital and what governments do with funds released from catastrophe bonds.

    04 Mar 2020
  • Tech boutique offers tool to spot greenwash

    Tech boutique offers tool to spot greenwash

    Investors who have been longing for the EU Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities to tell them what is green are now realising that its arrival could make life tricky. From the end of next year, they will have to start reporting how sustainable all their portfolios are. It could prove an enormous headache. But a tiny company has developed a tool it claims can cut out a lot of the worries investors face in working out how to comply.

    26 Feb 2020
  • Investors hope to strike oil in budding oil and gas ABS market

    Investors hope to strike oil in budding oil and gas ABS market

    Oil and gas securitizations may be a win-win solution for the difficulties faced both by energy producers in search of a diversified source of funds and by investors hungry for long term, attractive returns, said speakers at SFVegas on Sunday.

    24 Feb 2020
  • ESG proponents on the hunt for a common framework

    ESG proponents on the hunt for a common framework

    A lack of data and a broad range of frameworks for identifying environmental, social, and governance (ESG) assets are significant hurdles standing in the way of ESG becoming a more robust asset class unto itself, said speakers at SFVegas 2020 on Sunday, urging advocates to harmonize their definitions and strategies for investing.

    24 Feb 2020
  • Whole biz ABS riskier than oil and gas deals, Fitch says

    Whole biz ABS riskier than oil and gas deals, Fitch says

    Investors hungrily eyeing two esoteric ABS subsectors — one booming, the other nascent — may want to look take a second look, as Fitch Ratings this week warns that whole business securitizations are a riskier bet than the budding oil and gas ABS sector.

    20 Feb 2020
  • Sustainability a far cry from the fusty world of US PPs

    Sustainability a far cry from the fusty world of US PPs

    Several chances to demonstrate commitment to corporate sustainability have occurred in the US private placement market recently, and the market has fallen short in almost every case. Most of the PP market is as unfamiliar with using the term 'ESG' as it is to yelling 'YOLO'.

    18 Feb 2020
  • BW Energy gets shrunken IPO done in teeth of oil fears

    BW Energy gets shrunken IPO done in teeth of oil fears

    BW Energy, the oil exploration and production company, has priced its Oslo IPO after lowering its valuation target and shrinking the deal, having encountered resistance from investors as the coronavirus outbreak in China knocked 20% off the oil price.

    18 Feb 2020