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.
Münchener Hypothekenbank can now issue green commercial paper, after having added the option to its EUR5bn programme, with the short term debt earmarked to refinance green assets that have not yet been included in its cover pool or the parts of loans that are cover pool-ineligible.
Standard Chartered attracted over EUR3.4bn of orders for an inaugural sustainability bond on 25 June, building on a broader green and sustainable product framework to offer investors an uncommon opportunity to support the UN SDGs in the range of emerging markets the bank operates in.
Landesbank Baden-Württemberg issued its third green bond in just over two months on Wednesday, a EUR500m no-grow seven year senior non-preferred issue priced flat to where the German bank sold a EUR750m five year SNP transaction in mid-May.
Société Générale SFH issued the first French green covered bond last Monday, a EUR1bn 10 year issue that attracted over EUR2.5bn of orders, with proceeds earmarked for refinancing mortgages against low carbon residential buildings in the fifth “positive impact” bond from the group.
Berlin Hyp sold over half a EUR500m eight year green Pfandbrief to investors classified as green at the tightest spread of any euro benchmark covered bond this year on Wednesday, in what head of funding and IR Bodo Winkler hailed as an amazing result, even if yield moves made pricing “a little bizarre”.
Stakeholders have largely welcomed the release of long-awaited green EU taxonomy proposals, which attempt to lay down green criteria to support sustainable finance, but opinions were divided over the extent to which weaknesses in the first draft had been addressed.
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