RAIFFEISENBANK IN CZECH REPUBLIC ISSUES INAUGURAL GREEN BOND

Raiffeisenbank a.s., Prague, priced its inaugural MREL*-eligible € 350 million Senior Non-Preferred Green Bond with Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) acting as Joint Lead Manager and Bookrunner (MREL: Minimum Requirement for Own Funds and Eligible Liabilities).

With this transaction, Raiffeisen is the first bank to issue a Green Bond out of the Czech Republic. The deal also represents the first publicly syndicated Senior Non-Preferred Green Bond in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as well as the largest Green Bond for a CEE financial institution.

“This bond is in line with our group-wide ESG strategy to issue Green Bond format MREL-notes also in CEE,” said RBI-CFO Michael Hoellerer. “This issue, along with the ones preceding it, again proves RBI’s pioneer role in sustainable finance in Austria and CEE. I am very happy about the excellent reception of the issuance, which was reflected by an oversubscription of 2.4 times.”
Raiffeisenbank is the RBI Group’s already third Green Bond issuer this year, following Slovak Tatra banka’s inaugural € 300 million benchmark Green Bond in April and Romanian Raiffeisen Bank’s inaugural RON 400.6 million (approx. € 80 million) Green Bond in May. Raiffeisen Bank in Bucharest was also on the market last week with its first Senior Non-Preferred MREL-eligible Green Bond. The RON 1.2 billon (approx. € 240 million) private offering marks the largest corporate bond to date in local currency in Romania.

RBI intends to be a regular green bond issuer in the international capital market as well as in the Austrian and Eastern European retail markets. In doing so, RBI aims to offer alternative investments to investors focusing on climate-resilient investment opportunities. RBI launched its green bond program in 2018 and is currently the largest Austrian issuer of green bonds. By issuing Green Bonds, RBI aims to further increase awareness about sustainability within the whole organization, leading to new initiatives and strategic synergies between internal and external stakeholders. RBI’s subsidiary banks in CEE benefit from the head office’s expertise and knowledge transfer. The bank’s comprehensive Green Bond framework allows for a wide range of green projects, including green buildings, renewable energy, waste and water management, energy efficiency and clean transportation.

*) MREL: Minimum Requirement for Own Funds and Eligible Liabilities