BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO) has issued its maiden Blue Bond amounting to $100 million, through an investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The launch makes BDO the first private sector firm in Southeast Asia to issue a Blue Bond.
In a statement, BDO said this issuance will expand financing for projects that “help prevent marine pollution and preserve clean water resources, while supporting the country’s climate goals.”
BDO’s issuance reinforces the bank’s commitment to sustainable finance, allowing the bank to provide more support to critical areas such as water conservation, wastewater treatment, plastic recycling, sustainable tourism, fisheries, and sustainable seafood processing among others.
More importantly, the bond will help BDO expand its Sustainable Finance Framework to include projects supporting the country’s blue economy, while establishing a new asset class in the Philippine debt market.
The pioneering Blue Bond has a tenor of seven (7) years and will adhere to the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principle and IFC’s recently launched Blue Finance Guidelines.
BDO Capital & Investment Corporation acted as the arranger in this transaction.
BDO is a full-service universal bank which provides a wide range of corporate and retail services such as traditional loan and deposit products, treasury, trust banking, investment banking, private banking, rural banking, cash management, leasing and finance, remittance, insurance, cash cards, credit cards, and online and non-online brokerage services.
It has the country’s largest distribution network, with over 1,500 consolidated operating branches and more than 4,400 ATMs nationwide. It also has 16 international offices in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.
BDO ranked as the largest bank in terms of total assets, loans, deposits and trust funds under management based on published statements of condition as of December 31, 2021. — Jimmy Calapati
