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Powering up
Bank of America claimed a leading position in all the major areas of ESG financing in the Americas in 2022, building on a major expansion of its team and shooting up the league tables. It is IFR’s Americas ESG Financing House of the Year.
Intellectual property
EMEA remained the biggest global market for sustainable finance in 2022 despite the turbulence sparked by the war in Ukraine. For a faultless performance across the region’s ESG-labelled markets in a challenging year, Credit Agricole CIB is IFR’s EMEA ESG Financing House of the Year.
No shortcuts
BNP Paribas helped bring IPOs from companies in the electric vehicle supply chain, as sustainability took on new importance to the region’s equity markets, while delivering high standards for debt deals, making it IFR’s Asia-Pacific ESG Financing House of the Year.
Sovereign landmark
Chile’s US$2bn landmark carried sustainability-linked bonds beyond their usual corporate issuer base, demonstrating that the most important development in ESG debt since the emergence of green bonds more than a decade earlier can work for sovereigns too.
Making waves
Barbados used US$146.5m of dual-currency blue loans to finance a groundbreaking debt conversion which created new funding for marine conservation and also included a new “pandemic” clause that allows the country to defer debt payments in an emergency.
The good Lhyfe
Launching a European IPO less than a month after the outbreak of war in Ukraine was ambitious but for French green hydrogen producer Lhyfe the spotlight being shone on energy security at least helped underscore the importance of its unique equity story.
Generating momentum
For setting its sights on the big league and putting the architecture in place to execute its corporate strategy of becoming a major player in sustainable information, S&P Global is IFR’s ESG Opinion Provider of the Year.
The Middle East was one of the few bright spots globally in equity capital markets in 2022, with IPOs regularly flooded with billions of dollars of demand. Bankers believe that not only is issuance sustainable, but the diversity of sectors, types of deals and even geographic location of companies tapping the market will expand, ensuring the region is a significant part of future ECM activity.
The UK’s LDI crisis was one of the most shocking events in the financial markets in 2022. What went wrong and what happens now?
So-called perfect storms are becoming more frequent in the financial world. The UK will need to tread carefully to avoid being caught in another one.
Buffeted by Covid-19 and caught in the crosshairs of Sino-US tensions and an authoritarian Chinese regime, Hong Kong’s ability to adapt is under sharp focus as it seeks to remain relevant as a global financial centre.
As Japan makes the crucial move to net-zero carbon emissions and other environmental targets, it is relying on transition finance as the mechanism to get there.
