Daiwa Securities

DCM bankers hope that Mexican lender Nafin’s planned green bond could be the first of many from the country, and that other development banks in Latin America will follow Mexico’s model.

Export Development Canada printed the third three year dollar deal in as many days on Thursday, suggesting that investor demand for short dated dollar debt is by no means sated.

Government-owned development bank Nacional Financiera (Nafin) is plotting what would be the first ever green bond from Mexico and — unlike the previous two such bonds from LatAm — will be ringfencing the proceeds.

The socially responsible investor base is growing nicely, as is its diversity in terms of geography and types. But growth could be about to hit warp speed as governments and regulators wake up to the sector. Craig McGlashan reports.

With only $25bn of green bonds issued so far, volumes of SRI instruments in 2015 are a little disappointing. Predictions at the beginning of the year that $100bn of green bonds would be issued in 2015 are likely to be wide of the mark, with many now saying the end of year total could struggle to match 2014’s $37bn. But few in this developing market are downhearted, preferring to see 2015 as a year of consolidation and necessary adjustment as the product reacts to poor general market conditions and begins to mature. In fact, despite the low volumes, progress is being made. The issuer base is beginning to expand beyond the confines of the public sector, as more banks join the list of issuers. Emerging market companies are also turning to the market, such as Brazil’s BRF with a €500m deal in June. Meanwhile, the investor base is growing in a healthy fashion, with Barclays and Deutsche pledging to invest £1bn and €1bn respectively in green bonds. As for 2016, expectations are that volumes will bounce back, with companies and municipalities leading the charge, along with more banks and emerging market issuers from Latin America. These topics and many more were discussed at GlobalCapital’s SRI roundtable in New York in mid-September.

The year 2015 has seen important progress in the field of green bond investment in Asia, with the emergence of two big new markets — China and India. For its Tokyo roundtable, GlobalCapital invited a panel of issuers, investors, analysts and bankers to discuss the trends in the sector and the potential for development as new markets open up for the asset class across the region.

Corporate and FIG green bonds had a breakthrough year in 2014 and there have been several deals already this year. But with banks facing a flood of new regulations and the cost of reporting putting some corporations off the idea of printing green bonds, the two sectors face challenges not endured by SSA issuers. There are, however, still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future of corporate and FIG green bonds. GlobalCapital brought together corporate and FIG funding officials, bankers and green bond experts London for a roundtable discussion on how 2015 has fared — and what 2016 will bring.

As the green bond market grows and becomes more sophisticated, so do the demands from investors for better verification and reporting standards. But with a proliferation of approaches and third party opinion providers, there are calls for standardisation — and even the potential for pricing differentials developing among bonds with different qualities of reporting. Craig McGlashan reports.

GlobalCapital's European SRI roundtable for 2015 brought together issuers, investors and bankers to discuss how to tackle the capital markets challenges of sustainable and responsible investment.

So far green bonds have dominated the still young ESG capital markets. But in the last 12 months a pair of issuers have brought bonds based on social themes in benchmark size. Tessa Wilkie reports on how we are about to see a lot more of them.

European banks have been the mainstay of the Samurai market over the last 12 months, and the market has repaid them with loyalty. When European markets were shut during the Greek crisis, Japan stayed open for familiar names, rewarding those who have made the effort to build relationships and a track record. Here, eight issuers and two banks describe their experience.

Municipality Finance