One billion euros for social projects in North Rhine-Westphalia NRW.BANK places first social bond of the year 2023

NRW.BANK has issued its seventh social bond in total and the first of the year 2023. The bond with a volume of one billion euros met with solid demand in a volatile market environment. It has a term of ten years. Since 2020, the promotional bank for North Rhine-Westphalia has placed its social bonds in the European and Australian capital markets.

“Sustainability is a key guiding principle for NRW.BANK and an essential factor in our business policy decisions,” says Eckhard Forst, Chairman of the Managing Board of NRW.BANK. “This applies to both our promotional business and the capital market business. Our seventh NRW.BANK.Social Bond, which will refinance projects in North Rhine-Westphalia that focus on the social dimension of sustainability, is a good example of this.”

The proceeds from the first NRW.BANK.Social Bond of the year 2023 will be used to fund, for example, projects that promote affordable home ownership, the preservation and creation of jobs, support for municipalities, e.g. in school education, activities in the health and care sector as well as investments in disaster management. The bond thus complies with the ICMA Social Bond Principles.

The issue of the seventh social bond met with strong interest from the domestic market. J.P. Morgan, NatWest Markets, LBBW und TD Securities acted as lead managers.

The promotional bank for North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the pioneers in sustainability bonds. Back in 2013, NRW.BANK was the first regional promotional bank in Germany to issue a Green Bond to fund environmentally friendly projects promoting clean water and green energy in NRW. In June 2020, it was the first German promotional bank to place a 1-billion-euro social bond in the German capital market.

The social benefit of the projects funded has recently been confirmed by ISS ESG, according to which the bond addresses six of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: (1) Zero Poverty; (3) Good Health and Well-being; (4) Quality Education; (5) Gender Equality; (8) Decent Work and Economic Growth as well as (10) Reduced Inequalities.

For more information on the NRW.BANK.Social Bond, visit www.nrwbank.de/socialbond

To learn more about sustainability at NRW.BANK, see https://www.nrwbank.de/en/about-us/sustainability/

Contact for inquiries:

Caroline Fischer, Press Officer

Phone: +49 211 91741-1847; e-mail: caroline.fischer@nrwbank.de

About NRW.BANK

NRW.BANK is the promotional bank of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Its mission is to support its owner – the state of North Rhine-Westphalia – in the completion of its structural and economic policy tasks. In its three promotional fields “Economy”, “Housing” and “Infrastructure/Municipalities”, NRW.BANK uses a wide range of promotion tools – from low-interest promotion loans to equity financing to advisory services. It cooperates with all banks and savings banks based in NRW on a competition-neutral basis. NRW.BANK takes into account the existing offers by the Federal Government, the North Rhine-Westphalian government and the European Union in the arrangement of its promotion.

For more information, visit www.nrwbank.com
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