Ahren Lester

SGX: 'Uneven' Singapore climate disclosures a 'reality check'

Climate-related disclosures by Singapore-listed firms remain "uneven" after the recent roll-out of requirements by the Singapore Exchange (SGX), but the stock exchange hopes data from the first round of reporting will spur improvement.

Altius plans Australian green bond fund relaunch amid sovereign bond excitement

Altius Asset Management (Altius AM) is planning to relaunch its AUD190 million ($125 million) Australian green bond fund in 2024 amid a "step-up" in interest in the market as the Australian government prepares its own green bond debut.

Argentina issues debut sustainable bond amid future doubts

Argentina has raised ARS44.3 billion ($125 million) from its debut sovereign sustainability bond, but doubts have been raised about the prospects for further issuance amid a change of government.

Canada hires CIBC to update green bond framework

Sustainable bonds are 'stretching for smaller sovereigns'

New Zealand struggled to find adequate eligible projects for its issue, necessitating robust management of its green spending. Ahren Lester writes

Snam raises €650m from EU Taxonomy-aligned 'transition' bond

Italian energy infrastructure firm Snam has raised €650 million ($710 million) from its second EU Taxonomy-aligned transition bond, in a deal which was more than four-times oversubscribed.

IFC, T Rowe Price to launch 'first' blue bond fund

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and T Rowe Price are preparing to launch the first dedicated 'blue' bond investment strategy to support sustainable marine and water investment from companies and financial institutions in emerging markets.

'Only Asian investors seem to understand Asian issuers'

Emerging market green bonds may need credit enhancement to attract Western investors, Golden Tree's David Oum told Environmental Finance ESG in Fixed Income Asia. Ahren Lester reports

New sustainability finance hires 'specifically requesting no SFDR reporting'

New sustainability hires at companies and some banks are specifically requesting that their role does not require any EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) reporting duties as "reporting fatigue" deepens,...

Our first question when we see an SLB: 'What are these guys hiding?'

A sustainable bond investor said it treats sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) with a "huge dose of caution and scepticism," arguing that market practices for the performance-based instrument have provided...