ICO draws international investors and issuers to the 8th ICO Sustainable Bonds Forum

04 julio 2024

  • The conference was opened by the Chairman of ICO, José Carlos García de Quevedo, and was attended by Ana Puente, Deputy Director General of Sustainable and Digital Finance of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Ángel Estrada, Director General of Financial Stability, Regulation and Resolution of the Bank of Spain, and Helena Viñes, President of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance and Director of the National Securities Market Commission
  • The conference was held by the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) in collaboration with BBVA, Crédit Agricole, HSBC, ING and Santander, and over the years it has become a benchmark event for taking the vital signs of the green, social and sustainable bond markets
  • ICO maintains its leadership as a sustainable bond issuer after accruing a total of 17 issues (11 social bond issues and 6 green bond issues) for a total amount of 8.55 billion euros

Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) today held the eighth edition of the "ICO Sustainable Bond Forum", an event that brings together international issuers and investors to analyse the development of sustainable finance, paying particular attention to the development of green, social and sustainable bond markets.

The conference was opened by the Chairman of ICO, José Carlos García de Quevedo, and was attended by Ana Puente, Deputy Director General of Sustainable and Digital Finance of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Ángel Estrada, Director General of Financial Stability, Regulation and Resolution of the Bank of Spain, and Helena Viñes, President of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance and Director of the National Securities Market Commission.


 

The Forum, organised by ICO in collaboration with BBVA, Crédit Agricole, HSBC, ING and Santander, draws to Madrid major players in the domestic and international sustainable finance sector: issuers, investors, agencies, banks and other members of the industry.

Throughout the conference, the speakers analysed the current situation, the evolution of the market—the volume of sustainable bonds in 2023 is 2% higher than that issued in the previous year and represents 12% of the total bond market—and what new opportunities and challenges are in store for the sector.

The 8th ICO Sustainable Bond Forum was attended by leading representatives of financial institutions, companies and the public sector in three round-table discussions:

  • "ESG Bonds: will the market rebound in 2024?" 
  • "Innovative approaches in Sustainable Finance"
  • "Transition, the rising theme of 2024"

See full agenda

ICO's role in the sustainable bond market

ICO, as a major player in sustainable bond markets, has now launched 17 sustainable issues (11 social and 6 green), with a total issued amount of 8.55 billion euros. 

ICO channels the funds raised with these issues towards the business community through its direct financing programmes, the ICO Mediation facilities, and funds managed by AXIS, its venture capital affiliate. 

Green bonds

Last March, ICO launched its sixth issue of green bonds which, together with the previous five, amount to a total of 3 billion euros to finance activities, investments and projects of Spanish companies that contribute to boosting the ecological transition, all in alignment with the goals of the National Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience.

This sixth green bond issue, for an amount of 500 million euros, was very well received by the markets, with a demand of around 3.9 billion euros.

With the first five operations, whose impact reports have already been published, Spanish companies' projects have been financed, generating savings of more than 1,164,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.


Social bonds

ICO has launched eleven social bond issues amounting to 5.55 billion euros, a pioneer in this market. Social bonds promote social and territorial cohesion and have a positive impact on employment. 

The latest issue was launched in this past June, for the amount of 500 million euros, and to date, ICO's social bond issues have helped to finance more than 73,000 business projects, which have helped to create or maintain more than 478,000 jobs, as well as the construction of social infrastructure such as hospitals and housing.