CaixaBank's inaugural green senior non-preferred bond is the third issued under its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Framework published in 2019. The Spanish bank's win adds to its success last year's Environmental Finance Bond Awards where it took the Social bond of the year – bank award.

The proceeds of the €1 billion ($1.2 billion) bond are being used to refinance assets initiated up to three years prior to issuance. In this regard more than €4.2 billion of eligible assets were identified up to 31 December 2020. Of these, €3.6 billion are assets that finance renewable energy projects and more than €600 million are real estate assets.

As of December 2020, out of the total renewable energy assets, 42% are in wind; 54% photovoltaic and 4% thermos-solar and out of green buildings, 51% are offices and 49% are commercial and other.

The bond was praised by one Environmental Finance Bond Awards judge for its application of the EU Taxonomy: "[It] applied the EU Taxonomy in selecting eligible loans [and had] strong ESG commitments at the issuer level," added another. The issuance was also aimed at advancing climate mitigation goals within the EU-Green Bond Standard.

Maturing in 2026 the bond was 4 times oversubscribed and its final pricing was 35 basis points inside the initial price thought (IPT).

Up to March 2021, CaixaBank has issued five bonds to support the UN's SDGs: three green bonds and two social bonds, with a combined value of €5 billion.

One of CaixaBank's social bonds, issued in July 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic 2020, also received a 'highly commended' recognition from the judges in the category Social bond of the year – bank.

One judge commented "CaixaBank is a great example of a bank that fully integrates sustainability commitment into its operating model, and demonstrating its commitment in the capital markets," while another praised the social bond for the "quality of social reporting".