NRW Bank, the development bank of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia, has just issued a EUR250 million, 4 year bond, the proceeds of which will go to refinancing environmentally friendly water and energy projects in the State.
Interest rate is 0.75%. Bond ratings were: Moody's Aa1 (Neg) / S&P AA- (Stab) / Fitch AAA (Stab). Joint bookrunners were Crédit Agricole CIB and DZ Bank.
Investor type:
- Banks 40%
- Funds managers 34%
- Central banks / official institutions 24%
- Pension & Insurance funds 2%
Regional spread:
- Germany 40%
- France 15%
- Other Europe 12%
- Asia 12th
They've called this one a "Green Bond" because proceeds go to water projects such as river restoration, maintenance of fresh water supply, improvement of river flood management and on the improvement and development of the region’s biodiversity.
We agree with the broad idea, but definitions here are poor; and NRW are not even citing credible academic sources nor third party taxonomies, a key feature of the Green Bonds Framework for example.
Note the best, from a climate change perspective.
