Press release
Standard Chartered issues first Social Bond
With 99 per cent of bank’s social asset base in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, issuance will deploy capital where need is acute
London – Standard Chartered, a leading international cross-border bank connecting the world’s most dynamic markets, has today issued its first-ever Social Bond, which will support the sustainable development of low-income countries across the bank’s emerging market footprint.
The EUR1 billion 8-year Non-Call 7 year offering will primarily facilitate lending to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), ensuring access to finance, helping create jobs and empowering and nurturing women-owned SMEs. Proceeds will also finance access to essential services including healthcare and education, and will facilitate investment into affordable basic infrastructure and food security, in line with the social activities set out in the Bank’s Sustainability Bond Framework.
Today, around USD4.2 trillion in annual investment is needed across emerging markets to facilitate sustainable development, build resilience across businesses and communities, and facilitate enduring growth. Bridging this gap requires the mobilisation of private sector capital into these markets, channelling finance towards outcomes that are critical to inclusive, long-term prosperity.
The proceeds raised from this inaugural social issuance will reference Standard Chartered’s Sustainable Finance asset pool, which includes USD5.5 billion in social assets – with 99 per cent of these located in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This ensures that capital raised through this issuance will support markets where the demand for finance is acute. The top five countries where Standard Chartered’s social assets are located include India (57%), Malaysia (10%), Bangladesh (6%), Mainland China (5%), and Nepal (4%).
Diego De Giorgi, Group Chief Financial Officer at Standard Chartered, said: “Our first social issuance is an important milestone for the bank and demonstrates Standard Chartered’s unique ability to raise capital in the world’s largest financial centres and deploy it across borders, into those markets where the need for sustainable finance is most acute. As a bank that sits at the centre of capital, trade and investment flows, across both developed and developing economies, this issuance highlights how the bank is providing financial solutions to support the enduring growth of our markets.”
Marisa Drew, Chief Sustainability Officer at Standard Chartered, said: “This first Social bond issuance underscores our commitment to people, communities and businesses, and provides a unique opportunity to mobilise capital at scale towards inclusive growth and development across our markets. The fact that 99 per cent of our social assets are located in Asia, Africa and the Middle East is a differentiating factor for us as an organisation and enables us to offer clients a dynamic sustainability proposition to jointly drive impact across our footprint.”
Daniel Hodge, Group Treasurer at Standard Chartered, said: “Investors in our Sustainable Finance offering enjoy the benefit of facing a UK-regulated Bank counterparty, while the impact delivered through our products and in this case, through our first Social bond, takes place in many of the most dynamic and high-growth developing markets.”
Salman Ansari, Global Head, Capital Markets at Standard Chartered, said: “This is the Group’s first Social bond issuance, following three successful Sustainability bonds issued by Standard Chartered PLC. The transaction underlines the bank’s commitment to inclusive growth and development, and is aligned with our brand promise, Here for Good. The oversubscription of this issuance indicates the continued strong global investor demand for our credit and differentiated Sustainability story.”
As reported in the bank’s 2024 Sustainable Finance Impact Report, social asset impact over the past year included:
- Financing critical clean water infrastructure deployment in Angola, via a EUR22 million social loan in partnership with UK Export Finance, to fund a transformative rural water supply project in the Quiminha region. The project includes the rehabilitation of the Quiminha Dam and the construction of new infrastructure for water storage and distribution. Once completed, it will provide clean water access to approximately 100,000 people across rural communities such as Vila Catete, Vila Quiminha, Vila Lalama, Calumbunze, and Camizunzo.
- Increasing access to finance for SMEs in Uzbekistan, by structuring a EUR114 million social financing package in collaboration with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank Group for the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the country’s largest bank. The MIGA-backed loan will provide critical support to SMEs across key sectors such as agribusiness, wholesale business and manufacturing.
- Empowering women-owned SMEs through the SC Women’s International Network (WIN) programme. The initiative supports women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses by offering tailored financial products designed to meet their business life stages, a networking platform connecting clients, suppliers and fellow entrepreneurs and development programmes to help them scale their businesses. Since its launch in India in 2022, SC WIN has expanded to six additional markets, including Kenya, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Pakistan. The programme has tripled the number of women SME clients and we are on track to fulfilling our commitment of lending USD1 billion to women-led SMEs across Asia and Africa by 2028.
Standard Chartered’s Sustainable Finance asset pool is defined by the bank’s Sustainability Bond Framework. In September 2024, the bank reported USD23.3 billion in total Sustainable Finance assets with 78 per cent of these located in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information please contact:
Josephine Yu Wen Wong
Director, Group Media Relations
Josephine.Wong@sc.com
Charlotte Love
Director, Sustainability Communications
Charlotte.Love@sc.com