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Supporting Financial Institutions on every step of their sustainability journey

Climate, ESG and Sustainable Finance for Financial Institutions

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About us

We offer climate and ESG solutions and services to guide Financial Institutions through the development of their sustainable finance strategies to successfully address environmental and societal challenges.

We are a specialist team with capabilities in ESG advisory and sustainable finance for banks, building societies, insurance companies and asset managers. We help our customers further embed sustainability strategies into their business models, develop their sustainable financing strategies, and connect with the global community of ESG investors. We also advise our customers on navigating an increasingly complex ESG regulatory landscape.

Our services include: structuring Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-Linked Financing Frameworks (GSS/S Frameworks), developing and assessing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for sustainability-linked transactions (e.g. loans, FX), and advising on ESG rating and disclosures. Our capabilities extend across different asset classes (e.g. securitisation, covered bonds, senior bonds, subordinated bonds, commercial paper) and currencies (e.g. GBP, EUR, USD) in both public and private markets.

How we could support your institution

We take a holistic approach to assisting you with all aspects of your sustainability journey by providing advice, ideas and solutions, thought leadership and insight.

Our services centre around advisory and execution across the following topics:

  • Sustainability focused bonds, loans, securitisation and capital products
  • Bespoke sustainability focused risk solutions
  • ESG rating and disclosure advice
  • ESG investor engagement
  • ESG policy / regulatory developments
  • Carbon markets

Our work

We have assisted numerous FI's with a wide range of ESG-related transactions, celebrating many sustainability ‘firsts’. 

NatWest maintains a leading position in structuring and arranging Green, Social and Sustainability Bonds across currencies:

  • We are the #1 bookrunner for UK Green, Social and Sustainability (GSS) FIG [1] issuance across all currencies
  • We are the #2 bookrunner for European Green, Social and Sustainability (GSS) FIG [1] issuance across all currencies

[1] Financial Institutions Group includes banks, insurance companies, real estate, funds & trusts and other investment entities

Source: Dealogic (as at H1 2022)

At NatWest, we recognise the importance of our customers’ sustainability initiatives and reporting on ESG ratings and investors’ ESG scorecards. Through our close relationships with investors, we are able to provide guidance to customers to optimise their communication and interaction with various stakeholders.

Product Innovation and Partnership

Product innovation and partnership is at the centre of our philosophy as we work with our customers to develop meaningful new ESG products and solutions. This includes exploring new areas for sustainable finance such as impact insurance and finding new ways for financial institutions to incorporate their sustainability KPIs into financial instruments, for example through ESG-linked FX forwards.

Our team works closely with Relationship Managers, Syndicate, Capital Solutions, ESG Ratings Advisory, Legal and other in-house specialists to support FIs with their sustainability journeys.

Our customers

We are proud to have supported numerous customers with a wide range of ESG transactions. You can read in more detail about how we have helped our Financial Institution and Private Finance customers on our Case Studies page. You can also see recent examples of our work below:

 Deutsche Kreditbank AG. Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB) AG

Deutsche Kreditbank AG

Looking to issue the first-ever benchmark social mortgage-backed covered bond (“Pfandbrief”) from Germany, Deutsche Kreditbank AG turned to NatWest to support the debut in the role of Joint Lead Manager. The “Berlin Social Housing” mortgage Pfandbrief saw strong momentum right after order books opened, with demand peaking at over €2.5 billion in a very short time, allowing DKB to price the notes at MS+3 basis points.

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Yorkshire Building Society. Yorkshire Building Society

Yorkshire Building Society

A regular issuer in the European debt capital markets across multiple formats, YBS turned to NatWest for support with the issuer’s first ever Social SONIA Covered Bond (and the first SONIA issuance ever with a green, social or sustainability label). Once YBS opened books, orders came in rapidly and exceeded £1 billion within a short time. YBS used the Covered Bond’s proceeds to fund ‘Access to Essential Services (financing and financial services)’ which supports UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) #1 “No Poverty”, #10 “Reduced Inequalities”, and #11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities”.

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ING ING

ING

Looking to issue its first Green Senior HoldCo bond for 2022, ING asked NatWest to support the transaction in the role of Joint Bookrunner. On the back of an order volume above €2.8 billion, the deal team tightened the spread half-way through orders to give investors clarity around the final landing point. With books peaking at around €3 billion after the spread was set, ING opted for a size of €1.5 billion. Over 150 high-quality investors participated, with ESG investors accounting for 79%.

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Insights

Furthermore, we also support our research teams in providing ESG insights and content that aligns with our customers’ needs and challenges. You can find ESG content on our dedicated Sustainability Insights page and on Agile Markets. Some recent examples of our insights include:

Contact us

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Caroline Haas

Head of Climate & ESG Capital Markets

Email: Caroline Haas

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Private Finance Monthly newsletter hub Private Finance Newsletter

Douglas Shuffman, CFA

Vice President, Climate & ESG Capital Markets (Financial Institutions)

Email: Douglas Shuffman

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Jake Hallam

Associate, Climate & ESG Capital Markets (Financial Institutions)
 
 
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