The Isle of Man Treasury has today priced £400 million of 30 year Sterling sustainable bonds with a coupon of 1.625%.
HSBC acted as Sole ESG Structuring Advisor, and Barclays, HSBC and Santander as Joint Lead Managers. Clifford Chance acted as Legal Advisor to the Issuer and Dentons for the Underwriters. EY acted as Independent Financial Advisor.
The bonds are rated Aa3 by Moody’s and were offered under standalone documentation.
The issuance is in line with the Isle of Man Government’s newly-established Sustainable Finance Framework, which is aligned to the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles, ICMA Social Bond Principles and ICMA Sustainability Bond Guidelines, and which has received a Second Party Opinion from Sustainalytics.
The Sustainable Finance Framework and Second Party Opinion can also be accessed directly at gov.im/sustainablefinance
Chief Financial Officer Caldric Randall commented:
‘We have been delighted by the strength of institutional demand for our debut issue of sustainable bonds. This demonstrates that investors recognise the Isle of Man’s fiscal strength and, through our new Sustainable Financing Framework, the Government’s commitment to protecting and enhancing the environment in the Isle of Man as well as investing in the community for the long term.
‘The eligible projects covered in the Sustainable Finance Framework encompass a broad range of areas including clean transportation, energy efficiency, affordable housing, education and healthcare.
‘The Isle of Man has a clear commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 and this fund raising will support the Island in staying at the forefront of the transition to a lower carbon economy, including the target for transitioning to 75 per cent renewable sources for electricity by 2035.’
