Sweden’s SEB Issues First Green Bond

Swedish bank SEB has issued its first green bond of EUR 500 million last Friday for loans to green initiatives.

These green loans will initially be offered to large companies and institutions, municipalities, county councils and housing associations, the bank said.

”For all lending, we will have a dialogue with customers if the loan is intended for green initiatives. This contributes to helping raise awareness on environmental issues, ” said Joachim Alpen, Co-head of Large Corporates & Financial Institutions.

Ahead of the release of the green bond, SEB has gone through the loan portfolios of the entities involved and selected and separated the loans which comply with the bank’s framework for green bonds.

Clearly defined projects within renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, clean transport, water and waste water management, waste management, sustainable forestry and clean air are eligible for green loans.

The environmental aspect of SEB’s green financing is quality-assured by independent, external climate and environmental research institute Cicero, through its network of independent universities.

In addition, the audit firm PwC will analyse whether SEB’s processes and systems for separating green borrowing and lending is in line with SEB´s framework for green financing.