Green bond round up, June 12: Developments from around the world

Europe

Nasdaq Helsinki has announced the launch of a new sustainable bond segment on the main Market. MuniFin, the second-largest Finnish credit institution, has listed two outstanding bonds on the new list – a $500m, five-year offering and a €500m 10-year deal. Eligible bonds can fall into three categories: Green, Social and Sustainable.
DNB Bolgkreditt – a subsidiary of DNB Bank, owned by Norway’s biggest financial services group DNB Group – has developed a green bond framework ahead of issuing mortgage-backed covered bonds for energy efficient properties. Sustainalytics deemed the framework “credible and impactful” in a second-party review.
Societe Generale and Mizuho Securities have become the latest financial institutions to join the Climate Bonds Partner Programme. Societe Generale is the first French bank to do so. For a full list of members, see here.

North America

Ygrene Energy Fund has sold $340.5m in a private placement through its GoodGreen Series, becoming the first securitisation to be assessed under S&P Global Ratings’ Green Evaluation programme. The bond is underpinned by a portfolio of properties retrofitted under North America’s ‘property-assessed clean energy’ programme (PACE). PACE provides low-cost financing upfront financing for energy and water improvements, which owners pay back over the longer term, partly based on savings to utility bills. The green bond was S&P’s 20th.

Africa

Nigeria’s FMDQ Over-the-Counter Securities Exchange has collaborated with The Financial Sector Deepening Africa and the Climate Bonds Initiative to launch a Nigeria Green Bond Market Development Programme, focused on scaling up the country’s corporate green bond market. Nigeria issued a sovereign green bond in December.h6. Asia

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is reportedly set to issue its first peso green bond in the Philippines, as part of the agency’s efforts to develop the country’s corporate bond market. The bond will be around $100m and proceeds will be allocated to an unnamed client in the domestic renewable energy sector, according to an interview with Jingdong Hua, IFC Vice President and Treasurer. The IFC launched an emerging markets green bond fund with Amundi last year, with a view to scaling up the asset class in countries in which climate finance is most needed.
Japan’s Rating & Investment Information has assigned a rating of GA1 to the Mitsubishi Estate Green Bond, which will finance the construction of a Tokyo building. The ratings agency said the proceeds “will be used to invest in projects with significant environmental benefits”, with the building expected to receive 4 or 5 stars under the DBJ Green Building Certification. The bond framework also has a second-party review from Sustainalytics. Most of the proceeds may be allocated within two years after the bond issuance, with surplus proceeds possibly to be held in temporary investments. R&I also reviewed Japan Retail Fund Investment Corp’s green bond, which will help repay loans to acquire a commercial building with a three-star ‘green building’ rating – out of five – from Development Bank of Japan (DBJ).