Lloyds bank successfully priced its first Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) transaction last Wednesday, becoming the latest institution to use the bond market to fund ethical causes. "The genesis of this bond came from our 'Helping Britain Prosper Plan' and to this end, we wanted to move beyond a generic Green bond structure in order to ensure wider social benefits," said Sanjay Sofat, head of senior funding at Lloyds Banking. "We wanted to have the ability to fund SME loans and first-time mortgages, as well as environmental projects." The UK bank, which is 25% owned by the government, met investors in London and Edinburgh the previous and early last week and decided to go live with a 4.5-year maturity on Wednesday morning.
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