In November 2019 Euronext announced the launch of "Euronext Green Bonds".
The Euronext Green Bonds initiative is a dedicated area on the Euronext website where green bonds listed on all Euronext markets are consolidated onto one highly visible area. This offering gives investors the opportunity to discover and participate in sustainable investment opportunities across all of the Euronext Markets in Dublin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Oslo or Paris.
Euronext is a leading destination for bond listing with more than 44,000 listed bonds. It has listed approximately €40billion worth of Green Bonds in the last twelve months.
Benefits of Euronext Green Bonds
- Opportunity for issuers to increase "green" visibility and promote their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) credentials;
- Provides investors with access to investments that are labelled as "green"; and
- Ensures easy access to "green" documentation sourced directly from issuers for investors.
Requirements for inclusion on Euronext Green Bonds
In order to be eligible for inclusion on Euronext Green Bonds, issuers will need to:
- Have a bond already listed on a Euronext market, for example the regulated market or the Global Exchange Market in Ireland;
- Align to recognisable industry standards such as the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles, the Climate Bond Initiative Taxonomy or other green frameworks that are deemed to be acceptable to Euronext; and
- Provide an appropriate external review, consistent with ICMA Guidelines for External Reviewers, performed by an Approved Verifier under the Climate Bond Standards or an independent third party that is deemed to have sufficient experience and expertise.
How the Maples Group can help
The Maples Group has been a Euronext Dublin approved listing agent since 2006 and provides listing services for a variety of debt securities, ranging from complex structured product programmes, asset backed securities, CLOs, sukuks, corporate bonds and bank debt, derivative and covered bonds.
As listing agent we can arrange to list the bonds on a Euronext Dublin market and thereafter co-ordinate the further requirements to have it deemed to be a Euronext Green Bond.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.