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State Bank of India, the country’s largest commercial bank, on Monday dual listed its $650 million green bonds simultaneously on the India International Exchange (India INX) and Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE). This dual listing is in line with this year’s topic of World Investor Week, ‘Sustainable Finance’, as indicated by the regulatory body International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
India INX, which is BSE’s international arm, on Friday had announced its memorandum of understanding with Luxembourg Stock Exchange for co-operation in financial services industry, maintenance of orderly markets in securities respective country, ESG (environmental, social and governance) and green finance in the local market. This dual listing of green bonds is the first step towards this collaborated effort.
Commenting on the dual listing, V Balasubramaniam, MD and CEO, India INX, said, “With this dual listing, we have taken the first step towards our association with LuxSE with a mutual goal of deeply benefiting the investors and issuers at large. On this special occasion of World Investor Week, we are focusing on the theme of sustainable finance and this listing of green bonds by SBI is very important move towards that goal.”
Automatic qualification
He said that India INX will work towards establishing a green corridor with Luxembourg to enable Indian Issuers to automatically qualify for dual listing with LuxSE to get investors from Europe and the globe. “India INX has now emerged as the leading bond listing venue with over $33 billion dollars listing,” he added.
Manoj Kumar, Executive Director, IFSCA, said, “The dual listing of SBI bonds is an important step for IFSCA in demonstrating regulatory convergence with the leading international markets of Luxembourg, which has the largest green bond listings in the world. This will pave way for Indian and European issuers to explore IFSC as a hub for issuance of green and sustainable bonds. On the occasion of World Investor week, themed around sustainable finance, the dual listing will also enhance international investors’ confidence in sustainable products listed at IFSC.”
Ashwini Kumar Tewari, Managing Director of SBI, said, “State Bank has raised $800 million in the green bond market so far. The listing of green bond with LuxSE will open up new avenues for market development and fund raising opportunities in the green bond space.”
Tewari highlighted that SBI has been the first public sector bank in India to publish its sustainability report as per Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. In 2019, India INX had unveiled GSM Green, a platform for fund raising and trading in green, social and sustainable bonds exclusively. The platform is established as per ICMA’s Green Bond Principles and Climate Bonds Initiative which provides an ideal platform for global investors to invest.
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