The green bond is Danske Bank’s first issuance on the back of the newly launched framework, and will be used to finance e.g. renewable energy and green buildings.

After launching a Green Bond Framework last week, Danske Bank has successfully issued an inaugural EUR 500m 5-year green bond. As a green bond issuer, Danske Bank state that the use of the proceeds has to finance or refinance assets and loans with a positive environmental impact.

Net proceeds of the EUR 500m green bond will be used to finance a portfolio of loans within green activities that promote the transition to low-carbon, climate resilient and sustainable economies, e.g. green buildings and renewable energy in the form of Nordic hydro power plants and offshore and onshore wind farms.

“Like the green bond framework, the issuance supports Danske Bank’s commitment to further developing the green bond market and channelling capital into customers’ environmentally beneficial projects,” says Samu Slotte, Head of Sustainable Finance in Danske Bank.

Lars Mac Key, Head of DCM Sustainable Bonds in Danske Bank, adds:

“This year has seen a strong growth in the green bond market, and we are very proud to be among the banks globally leading this growth and enabling the transition to a greener economy.”

Attractive pricing based on solid demand
The inaugural green bond issuance was very well received by investors, and based on solid demand, Danske Bank managed to issue the EUR 500m 5-year bond with a final order book of 3.3bn at final price.

“The positive reception clearly confirms that the interest in green investments is increasing with rapid speed, and it is a strong confirmation to the work we have done in regards to our Green Bond Framework,” says Bo Søndergaard, Head of SRI Bond Marketing. “We are seeing more green and ESG funds being launched, which I expect will lead to an increased interest in green bonds.”

About the green bond framework
The Green Bond Framework defines the loans or investments eligible to be funded by the proceeds of green bonds issued by Danske Bank A/S and its subsidiaries Realkredit Danmark A/S, Danske Hypotek AB (publ) and Danske Mortgage Bank Plc. In addition, it outlines the process used to identify, select and report on eligible loans, and how the management of Green Bond proceeds is organised.

More information
Find Danske Bank’s Green Bond Framework here, and read more about Danske Bank’s work with sustainable finance on our Sustainable Finance site.

Facts

  • Danske Bank have recently moved up the rankings to a number 9 position (year to date) in Bloomberg’s Global Green Bond League Table, and is thus the highest ranked Nordic bank for Green Bonds.

  • The ranking comes on the back of last week’s news that Danske Bank helped DNB Boligkreditt increase their SEK 3bn Green Covered Bond with another SEK 5.5bn, which brought the total issue size to SEK 8.5bn - the biggest green bond ever in the SEK market.