Nordic financial services group SEB announced the completion of a new green bond offering, raising €1 billion with proceeds aimed at financing green loans. The bank reported strong demand for the issuance, with a majority of the investors being European and Nordic financial institutions.
Hans Beyer, Chief Sustainability Officer at SEB, said:
“We are very pleased with the high interest from investors in our second green bond. Our new framework is aligned with our customers’ needs and supports our strategic goal of increasing the share of sustainability-related financing.”
The new bond was issued under SEB’s recently updated green bond framework. The new framework expands the categories of areas eligible for investment to include loans for projects that support biodiversity, transition to a circular economy, and climate change adaptation.
The new framework is broadly aligned with the EU Taxonomy, which will help the bank’s customers in meeting their new reporting requirements, though it deviates in some areas, including classifying only fully fossil-fuel vehicles as green, compared to the taxonomy definition which includes hybrid vehicles as well until 2025.
Commenting on the new framework, Beyer, said:
“This is a framework that is in line with how our customers think and it supports our strategic goal to increase the share of sustainability-related financing.”