Sustainable Finance
CASE STUDY: Enel Gives Wind to First Project Financing in South Africa’s Local Renewables Market
Nedbank and ABSA Bank were instrumental in helping Enel’s Green Power Division secure ZAR14bn financing for 5 wind farm projects across the country, enhancing the deal with innovative features including a tailored shareholder structure and cross-collateralization between the sub-portfolios.
10 Dec 2018
Suzano CFO on ESG: “This trend will not be reversed, and we see Brazil becoming a key part of it”
Leading Brazilian pulp and paper producer Suzano Papel e Celulose helped pioneer the country’s green bond market with the first green agricultural receivables security, or CRA, and a number of transactions on the international capital markets. The company’s CFO, Marcelo Bacci, an ardent supporter of ESG-focused investing, talks to Bonds & Loans about why the company decided to engage the…
7 Dec 2018
Mark Mobius: SMEs at the Outset of ESG – That’s Where the Real Opportunity Lies
The legendary EM investor spoke to Bonds & Loans about his new brainchild, Mobius Capital Partners - an ESG-focussed EM asset management company, and explained why when it comes to investing in sustainable finance market corporates, bigger isn't always better.
5 Dec 2018
Green Sukuk: The Nexus of Islamic Finance and ESG
Despite its reputation as a heavy emitter of greenhouse gasses, Indonesia’s green sukuk was hailed as a game changer for both Islamic and ESG investing. Luky Alfirman, Director General of Budget Financing and Risk Management, Ministry of Finance in Indonesia believes its inaugural transaction in February is the first of many to come as the government looks to double down on its commitment to…
29 Nov 2018
ESG Integration and Engagement: South Africa Sovereign Credit
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators are integral to PIMCO’s sovereign credit assessments, which inform our investment decisions. But how exactly do we incorporate ESG considerations into our decisions?
17 Oct 2018
Cape Town Bolsters ESG, but What’s Green Today May Not Be Tomorrow
Cape Town is one of the few municipalities to have issued a green bond, a hugely successful transaction that generated significant oversubscription despite a challenging local market backdrop. We spoke with David Valentine, the Treasury Director and Janine Marion Abrahams, Head of Bank and Treasury Loans, Finance and Treasury Department at the City of Cape Town, about how it prepared for the…
9 Oct 2018
CASE STUDY: ACWA Power Teams Up with ICBC on Egypt’s Benban USD185mn Structured Loan
In a deal that involves an amortizing loan with debt and equity tranches on a non-recourse project finance basis, the Saudi Arabia-based developer broke new ground by achieving an 18-year tenor, raising USD financing with an EGP-denominated tariff and bringing in a Chinese commercial bank.
26 Sept 2018
As Sovereigns Issue Green Bonds, Questions of Creating ‘Additionality’ Linger
A diverse group of governments have taken the plunge and issued green bonds to finance various initiatives designed to improve their climate resilience, but the diversity in their use of proceeds is making the pursuit of consistent impact reporting more complex and raising concerns about greenwashing otherwise harmful activities.
14 Sept 2018
Metito CFO: “Managing exposure to EM investments under the IFRS 9 ECL model is a challenge in GCC”
Metito is a leading provider of choice for water management solutions in the emerging markets with operations covering segments including chemicals, and utilities. Although the company is based in the Gulf, it operates on a global scale. We speak to the Holding’s CFO Wafic Ghanem about Metito’s funding plans for the coming year, including hedging and refinancing programs and market…
5 Sept 2018
Will ESG Standards and Ratings Heterogeneity Kill the Sustainable Finance Market?
As the world continues to embrace ESG-led investing, a dizzying array of standards and ratings tools has emerged to help clarify the underlying non-economic impact of an investment and help investors make sense of ESG-linked assets. This explosion in ratings, criteria and standards, however, could sow more confusion than they aim to resolve.
24 Aug 2018