Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行), the nation’s largest lender by number of branches, yesterday issued NT$1 billion (US$36.16 million) of sustainability bonds and listed the debt on the Taipei Exchange.
It is the first sustainability bond launched by a state-run bank and it pushes the total amount of sustainability bonds issued in Taiwan to NT$50.4 billion since the first was launched in October last year, the exchange said in a statement.
The Taipei Exchange, which manages the listing and trading of the bonds, said they are a combination of green and social bonds, which are used to finance projects that bring environmental and socioeconomic benefits.
Photo: Chen Rou-chen, Taipei Times
Taiwan Cooperative Bank’s sustainability bonds have a five-year maturity and a fixed coupon rate of 0.4 percent.
The proceeds are to be used to fund green projects, such as solar and wind power generation, and waste recycling or reuse, as well as social projects such as affordable housing and employment generation, the exchange said.
Other entities that have issued sustainability bonds and listed on the exchange include CTBC Bank (中國信託銀行), Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行), Far Eastern New Century Corp (遠東新世紀), Taipei Fubon Bank (台北富邦銀行) and the Chilean government, it said.
The exchange said that it hopes the bonds would become an alternative funding channel for companies to support their sustainability transformation and provide diversified investment opportunities.
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