Credit Agricole Sa: €1bn for local, sustainable and inclusive growth in the regions: the Crédit Agricole Group carries out its first social bond issuance
| Montrouge, 2 December 2020 |
#impact financing
#inclusive and sustainable growth
€1bn for local, sustainable and inclusive growth in the regions:
the Crédit Agricole Group carries out its first social bond issuance
Whereas the current crisis is severely affecting the most fragile, the Crédit Agricole Group is resolutely pursuing its mutualist commitment to promote development for all. Today, it has successfully carried out its first social bond issuance for €1 billion. The framework of these social bonds issuances aims to reduce social inequalities by revitalising the most vulnerable territories and by promoting employment, solidarity initiatives and access to essential goods and services.
A key issuer in the green bond market, the Group is today naturally broadening the field of its sustainable finance initiatives with this inaugural social bond issue.
This theme-based issuance contributes to the Group’s ambition, included in its Societal Project, to pursue its mutualist commitment to promote development for all. This issuance will be focused in particular on financing professionals and SME customers of the Regional Banks and LCL in territories where the unemployment rate is higher than the national average.
For Dominique Lefebvre, Chairman of Crédit Agricole S.A.: “Today, this first social bond issuance, with a positive impact, marks the continuation of our mutualist commitment to promote economic and social development for all. The issuance of social bonds will enable us to carry out strong actions throughout France aimed at reducing social inequalities and revitalising the territories, in particular by promoting employment in SMEs. ”
This inaugural issuance provides the Group with a framework for all its social bond issuances which includes:
- The economic development of territories in particular through the financing of SMEs to create employment in areas affected by a relatively high unemployment rate, and of investment in information and communication technologies in rural areas;
- Overall well-being due to the financing of associations working for the promotion of sports, access to culture and the development of solidarity initiatives, but also through the financing of social housing;
- Access to healthcare services through the financing of public hospitals and support for structures for the elderly as well as SMEs in the field of healthcare.
The Group will report each year on the social and societal impact of the asset portfolio refinanced through its social bonds.
This operation is a senior non-preferred issuance with a maturity of 7 years. It gathered strong interest from investors, as reflected by the granularity and quality of the order book. This issue was subscribed primarily by European investors.
It was structured by Crédit Agricole CIB – one of the global leaders in Green, Social and Sustainability bond arrangements.
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