Ahren Lester

M&G, Moody's chair UK ESG data and ratings code of conduct body

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has convened a working group to develop a 'significant' voluntary code of conduct for ESG data and ratings providers, which will be co-chaired by M&G and Moody's.

ESMA ESG fund naming guidelines are 'significant step'

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has opened a consultation on proposed environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment fund naming guidelines...

UN plans 'restoration taxonomy' to boost private sector funding

A UN-led initiative is planning to develop a taxonomy of ecosystem restoration activities in order to scale finance for projects from both the private and public sector, amid a significant funding gap.

ECB: Sustainable fund 'resilience' could reduce asset fire sales in crisis

Global environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment funds tend to have greater resilience to the risk of fund outflows in times of market crisis - which could prove beneficial to policymakers...

Loan round-up: Perennial, Vitesco, VPBank, Turk Eximbank, RS, PZ Cussons ... and more

IFC readies ground-breaking emerging markets sustainability bond fund

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is preparing to finalise its innovative sustainable bond fund for emerging markets, with a new name and scaled back fundraise target.

BlackRock launches €75m impact bond fund

BlackRock has launched an actively managed €75 million ($78 million) dedicated 'impact' bond fund which will predominantly invest in labelled green, social and sustainability bonds.

Bond round-up: Volkswagen, Bank of America, New Zealand, Hungary ... and more

'Sky high' central bank interest in GDP-equivalent natural capital metric

There is "sky high" interest from central banks in adopting new natural capital metrics such as Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP)...

2022 sovereign sustainable bond issuance unlikely to beat last year's record

New Zealand's maiden green bond has pushed sovereign sustainable bond issuance past $72 billion so far in 2022, but issuance is unlikely to beat last year's record of $110 billion.