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RCBC to issue peso-denominated ASEAN Green bonds
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) said Thursday it will be issuing peso-denominated green bond under its recently established green finance framework.
In a regulatory filing submitted by RCBC senior vice president Christina Alvarez, the Yuchengco-led lender said the issuance will be the first green bond from the Philippines under the ASEAN Green Bonds Standards 2018.
“The bank is targeting a minimum of P5 billion, with option to upsize,” RCBC said in a text message to GMA News Online.
“With this first in the country initiative, RCBC affirms its commitment to support environmental sustainability in the Philippines through our operations, our partners, and businesses we serve,” RCBC president and CEO Gil Buenaventura said in the regulatory filing.
ASEAN Green Bonds encompass sukuk or Islamic bonds in line with the ASEAN Green Bond Standards. The proceeds of the bond sale are exclusively applied to finance or refinance, in part or in full, new and existing green projects.
Eligible green projects include:
- green buildings
- energy efficiency
- renewable energy
- clean transportation
- climate change adaptation
- pollution prevention and control
- environmentally sustainable management of living natural resources and land use
On August 16, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted the ASEAN Green Bonds Standards.
The lender said its green finance framework under the ASEAN Green Bond Standards is the first in the Philippines.
RCBC has tapped Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. and ING Bank Manila to arrange the issuance, with ING as sole green structuring advisor for the green finance framework.
The planned green bond issuance has a tenor of one to five years.
RCBC said it intends to allocate the proceeds of any green financing instrument to finance and refinance its loans to customers or its own operating activities in green eligible projects. —VDS, GMA News
