Europe’s first sovereign sustainability bond listed on LuxSE

14/09/2020

Europe’s first sovereign sustainability bond listed on LuxSE

The Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) celebrated today’s listing of Europe’s first sovereign sustainability bond issued by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in the presence of Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourg Minister of Finance. The EUR 1.5 billion bond carries a AAA rating and is displayed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX).

“Our congratulations go to the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance for this innovative action. With this bond issuance, the Luxembourg Government demonstrates its commitment to sustainable finance and its leading role in the transition to a low-carbon and more inclusive economy. The Luxembourg Stock Exchange is proud to serve as the reference exchange for sustainable securities,” stated Robert Scharfe, CEO of LuxSE.

A frontrunner in Europe

The sustainability bond was issued under the new Sustainability Bond Framework established by the Luxembourg Government earlier this month. The framework is the first Sustainability Bond Framework established by a European country and aligned with the highest international standards and best market practice in the field of sustainable finance. The framework enables the issuance of green, social and sustainability bonds.

The sustainability bond listed on LuxSE today has a 12-year maturity and the proceeds of the bond will finance and refinance social and environmental projects, such as the electric public transportation service Luxtram and the country’s second largest hospital Südspidol.

“Today is an important day for the world of sustainable finance. Luxembourg has successfully issued a sustainability bond, as the first European country. The bond was very well received by the market and was oversubscribed many times. This shows that the market expected a bond that supports both social and environmental projects. Luxembourg will continue to be a pioneer in the field of sustainable finance,” commented Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourg Minister of Finance.

Leading exchange for sustainable finance

The Luxembourg Stock Exchange established LGX in 2016, the world’s leading platform entirely dedicated to sustainable securities. LGX is the reference platform for sovereign, institutional and commercial issuers of sustainable financial products and now counts more than 800 securities totalling EUR 300 billion. All securities displayed on LGX raise financing for projects with a positive social or environmental impact.

Thanks to their in-depth experience in the field of bond documentation, the sustainable finance experts at LuxSE have developed a centralised database of structured sustainability data, which will be launched later this week. The detailed data on the pioneer sustainability bond issued by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg will be included in this data hub.

Watch the Ring-the-Bell ceremony celebrating the listing

The LuxSE Group is composed of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) the leading listing venue for international securities and Fundsquare, its wholly-owned subsidiary specialized in delivering to the fund industry an efficient and standardized infrastructure for the exchange of information.