Asean Green Bond Standards gain traction

KUALA LUMPUR: The Asean Green Bond Standards have gained encouraging traction, with three issuances from Malaysia and Singapore carrying the Asean Green Bond label since their launch in November 2017.

The first sovereign sukuk in Asean issued by Indonesia was aligned with the Asean Green Bond Standards, the Asean Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) said in a statement.

The forum said the first sovereign sukuk in Asean issued by Indonesia was aligned with the Asean Green Bond Standards.

The statement was issued by the Securities Commission (SC) Malaysia on behalf of the ACMF a high-level grouping of capital market regulators from all 10 Asean jurisdictions – in conjunction with the forum’s 28th Chairs Meeting held in Da Nang, Vietnam, yesterday.

The SC Malaysia is currently chairing the forum. “The progress of the Asean Green Bond Standards demonstrates the region's increasing emphasis on sustainable financing and underscores the capacity of the Asean Green Bond Standards in providing guidance to issuers on issuing green bonds and investors with a credible reference point,” the ACMF said.

The meeting also welcomed the hosting of the first ACMF Asean Green Bond Standards Roundtable by the State Securities Commission of Viet Nam to engage with market participants, including banks, securities firms and fund management companies, on the adoption of the Asean Green Bond Standards.

The grouping said similar ACMF roundtables would be held throughout the region to raise awareness as well as to encourage greater adoption of the Asean Green Bond Standards.

The ACMF also agreed to carry out a series of engagements with market participants on further developing the cross-border offering of Asean collective investment schemes (CIS) to complement the recently enhanced Asean CIS framework.

The ACMF commended the pilot initiative to connect the stock markets of Malaysia and Singapore which could act as a template for future connectivity among Asean stock markets.

The meeting also endorsed the ACMF Professional Mobility framework to facilitate the cross-border movement of investment advisers and the publishing of research reports. ACMF will formalise the arrangements in the second half of 2018.

The ACMF noted the extension of the Asean Debt Securities Disclosure Standards to cover issuances of plain debt securities under a debt issuance programme.