ADB issues gender bonds in Canadian and Australian dollars

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched back-to-back gender bonds with a CAD750 million (around USD596 million) 7-year bond in the Canadian dollar maple market and a AUD700 million (around USD542 million) 4.5-year bond in the Australian dollar kangaroo market.

The 7-year bond has a coupon of 1.5 per cent payable semi-annually and a maturity date of May 4, 2028. It was priced at 99.393 per cent to yield 39.3 basis points above the Canadian government bond due June 1, 2028. Joint lead managers are CIBC Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets, Scotiabank, and TD Securities.

The 4.5-year bond has a coupon of 0.8 per cent payable semi-annually and a maturity date of November 6, 2025. It was priced at 99.859 per cent to yield 21.95 basis points above the Australian government bond due November 21, 2025. Joint lead managers are Nomura, RBC Capital Markets, and TD Securities.

"We are thrilled with the strong reception to ADB's first issuance of gender bonds in both the maple and kangaroo markets, which will help support ADB projects that promote gender equality and women's leadership," said ADB Treasurer Pierre Van Peteghem.

"These efforts are even more imperative as we recognise that women and girls are among the groups most severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.

ADB said it is committed to proactively supporting gender equality through gender-inclusive project designs in at least 75 per cent of its operations by 2030.

It has issued more than USD3.6 billion in thematic bonds across various themes including gender, health, and education in response to investor demand to support environment, social and governance goals.

ADB is a frequent borrower in the capital markets and plans to raise around USD34 billion to 36 billion in 2021.

( With inputs from ANI )