CaixaBank, Spanish leader in sustainable financing among banks in Europe in the first half of the year

• Refinitiv ranks the bank fifth in Europe in this type of financing, making it the highest positioned Spanish bank in the ranking.
• CaixaBank granted €7.2 billion in sustainable financing in the first half of the year, 45% more than the volume financed in 2020 as a whole.
• The bank also participated in ESG bond issues in Spain and Portugal for €14.6 billion in the first half of the year, double the amount issued in the whole of 2020.
• CaixaBank is positioned as the institution with the largest volume of its own Green and Social Bond in euros.

CaixaBank is the leading Spanish bank in sustainable financing in Europe in the first half of the year, according to the Refinitiv ranking, which places the bank fifth in Europe in this type of financing.

CaixaBank granted €7.2 billion in sustainable financing in the first half of this year, 45% more than the volume financed in 2020, consolidating its position as one of the bank's focal points of activity.

Of this amount, Refinitiv considered US$5.9 billion for its ranking (see appendix), derived from operations in which CaixaBank is considered as a top tier lender by the information platform.

A relevant part of sustainable financing has been formalised under the format of sustainable loans (ESG-Linked), which link the interest rate of the financing to sustainable objectives (KPIs or ESG Ratings). In this category, CaixaBank has closed 38 transactions worth €3.73 billion in 2021. These include Acciona's sustainable syndicated financing, the largest to date in Spain and a global pioneer in guaranteeing the impacts set as objectives in the financing, Atresmedia's syndicated loan, which became the first sustainable loan in Spain in the audiovisual sector, or the syndicated sustainable financing transactions signed with Naturgy, Roca or Werfen. In all these transactions, CaixaBank acted as Sustainability Coordinator and Agent.

Meanwhile, CaixaBank has issued 8 green loans worth €211 million. Green loans are characterised for financing projects with a direct positive environmental impact. Within this category, it is worth highlighting the financing granted in February to the Barcelona Metropolitan Area to finance its sustainable mobility programme and Cúbico's renewable energy project 'Project Finance', both public operations.

In transactions, CaixaBank is leading innovation in Spain in this product segment, mobilising €3.34 million in nine transactions linked to transactional products, including several operations with Endesa, with which the bank formalised the first sustainable factoring in the Spanish market in 2020.

€14.6 billion euros in sustainable issuances

In terms of capital market activity, the bank participated in ESG bond issuances in Spain and Portugal for €14.6 billion in the first half of the year, double the total volume registered in 2020. Specifically, in 2021, it participated as bookrunner in the issuance of 13 bonds rated as green, social or sustainable.

As part of sustainable activity carried out by CaixaBank in the first half of the year in the capital markets, it is worth highlighting the Green or Sustainable Bonds of Red Eléctrica, Telefónica, Iberdrola or Enel, and the Sustainable Bond issuances of the Basque country, Madrid and Andalusia Autonomous Communities.

Meanwhile, CaixaBank has continued its commitment to a funding policy linked to sustainability. During the first half of the year it issued four bonds, three green bonds and one social bond, for an amount of €3 billion and £500 million. This brings the total number of issuances in the Green and Social Bond market to seven since 2019, for a total volume of €6 billion and £500 million. This makes CaixaBank the financial institution with the largest volume of ESG bonds in the euro market.

CaixaBank is one of the financial institutions most committed to sustainability, given that its Socially Responsible Banking Plan covers five significant principles of action that include a direct contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Through its initiatives, the Bank is supporting environmentally friendly initiatives and projects that contribute to preventing and mitigating climate change and to encouraging the transition to a low-carbon economy and social development.

 
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Source: Refinitiv