The green bond market could grow by as little as 13% this year, according to Moody’s, which has slashed its forecast after having previously anticipated a 60% rise in issuance. The rating agency nevertheless noted increases in sustainable and social bond issuance, and highlighted covered bonds’ potential.
Investors active in green bonds stressed the importance of accountability and impact reporting offered by bonds aligned with the Green and Social Bond Principles, but showed flexibility in their investment strategies, in responses to a survey that evinced a mainstreaming of the product.
PKO Bank Hipoteczny is in the early stages of preparing a green covered bond framework from which it could issue the first green covered bonds from the CEE region, with potential for issuance in euros or Polish zlotys, to finance energy efficient residential properties.
Sustainable covered bond pioneer MünchenerHyp is working on a distinct green bond framework to accompany its prior social framework, in a move driven by investor preferences. Proponents have meanwhile denied a claim green bonds are a “lose-lose”, pointing to new issuer-investor benefits.
Handelsbanken and Raiffeisen Bank International sold inaugural EUR500m green senior bonds this week that benefitted from price and execution certainty, respectively, thanks to their greenness boosting demand amid choppy conditions, according to bankers at and away from the leads.
KBC joined the green bond market with a more than thrice-subscribed EUR500m debut on Wednesday, to give green financing power to its clients, according to a KBC official. The senior HoldCo deal was also priced with a substantially smaller premium than recent conventional supply despite markets having been choppy.
Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is preparing to issue an inaugural green senior unsecured benchmark, embarking on a European roadshow today (Friday), in the latest step of a sustainability strategy that, it says, is based on the principles of group’s 19th century namesake.
Landesbank Baden-Württemberg reached an unusually broad, international investor base with its inaugural green Pfandbrief on Monday, a EUR500m five year benchmark that received an “overwhelming” response, generating pricing power, according to the German issuer, which is also working on a social programme.
Thirty-seven banks with a 45% share of European mortgage lending are participating in the pilot scheme of the Energy Efficient Mortgages Initiative, which was launched yesterday (Thursday), under which they will test implementation of a new framework with a view to creating a final product.
Norway’s DNB Boligkreditt issued the biggest green bond from a European bank yesterday (Tuesday), a EUR1.5bn green covered bond debut that provided the clearest evidence yet of a possible “greenium” in the asset class. Sweden’s Handelsbanken today unveiled a new “dark green” framework.
Copyright © 2019 Newtype Media | MH Magazine WordPress Theme by MH Themes