Green

Rabobank sold its first green senior non-preferred bond last week, a €750m seven year priced some 3bp through fair value, with the deal’s impressive outcome attributed largely to its green nature. The Dutch cooperative has also sought to make its transaction the first aligned with the latest draft of the EU Green Bond Standard.

Sparebanken Sør Boligkreditt sold its first green covered bond on 17 October, a €500m seven year trade that inaugurates the first green and sustainability bond framework from a Norwegian bank, which takes in social activity in emerging markets, and a new green mortgage highlighted by an official at the issuer.

ING Bank Hipoteczny hopes to launch a debut euro benchmark covered bond in green format in the first half of 2020, after having inaugurated its covered bond programme with an upsized PLN400m green bond, which its CEO said will help move Poland’s housing sector forward in a green direction.

SR-Boligkreditt inaugurated a green bond framework with the first negative-yielding euro benchmark covered bond from the Nordics on Tuesday, while Sparebanken Sør Boligkreditt is set to follow with a green covered bond debut off the first Norwegian framework also targeting social goals.

SpareBank 1 SMN inaugurated its green bond framework on 4 September with a EUR500m seven year senior preferred issue soon after it received an improved ESG rating from Sustainalytics, with its fisheries-related element welcomed by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Rabobank recently aligned its green bond framework with the latest draft of the proposed EU Green Bond Standard and Sustainabonds spoke to Maarten Biermans, head of sustainable capital markets at the Dutch bank, about the issuer’s support for the initiative, notably the “do no significant harm” principle.

The Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (vdp) has set minimum standards for issuance to be eligible for the Green Pfandbrief/Grüner Pfandbrief trademark, aligning it with initiatives such as the Green Bond Principles and the draft EU sustainable finance taxonomy and Green Bond Standard.

Sparebanken Vest has established the first Norwegian green bond framework that allows for both senior unsecured issuance by the bank and covered bond issuance by its dedicated subsidiary, Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt, with green buildings and hydropower the eligible categories for loans.