To Finance ESG Projects
KB Kookmin Bank announced on June 20 that it has successfully issued 500 million euros in global covered bonds with 3.5-year maturity.
It marked the bank’s third issuance of euro-denominated covered bonds, following the first one in July 2020 and the second one in October 2021. The issuance rate was set at 2.405 percent per annum by adding 27bps to the euro-denominated mid-swap (MS) rate. They were listed on the Singapore and Frankfurt exchanges.
Amid increased financial market volatility following interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB), the bank's bonds drew strong demand from European investors as they were given the highest rating of AAA by international credit rating agencies, S&P and Fitch.
This Euro-denominated covered bond is a sustainability bond. The raised funds will be used for eco-friendly and social projects. The Korean lender has issued foreign currency ESG bonds for 10 times since 2018, solidifying its image as a global ESG bond issuer.