Energy Efficiency - December 7, 2021
Bank of America Issues Second Equality Progress Sustainability Bond
Bank of America announced the issuance of its second Equality Progress Sustainability Bond for $2 billion. The use of proceeds from the bond offering is designed to advance racial and gender equality, economic opportunity and environmental sustainability.
This transaction marks the first offering following the publication of Bank of America’s ESG-themed Issuance Framework last month. The Framework aligns to Bank of America’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) leadership and the company’s sustainable finance strategy, which aims to mobilize and scale capital deployment to help advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The “Equality Progress” label is outlined in the Framework, which is an objective to advance equality and economic opportunity for historically marginalized populations by focusing on financing and investments that provide people of color or women with expanded access to essential services, such as affordable housing and business capital.
Bank of America will allocate at least 50% of an amount equal to the net proceeds from the sale of the bond to one or more eligible Equality Progress Social Assets, with the remainder allocated to eligible Green Assets. The eligible categories have been expanded to include sustainable water and wastewater management, green buildings and carbon capture.
This issuance expands upon Bank of America’s first Equality Progress Sustainability Bond issued in 2020 by broadening the scope of the target populations for eligible Equality Progress Social Assets to include women and Asian American, Pacific Islander and Indigenous people, along with Black and Hispanic-Latino populations.
“This bond offering demonstrates our continued commitment to sustainable development and delivers shared value between us and our stakeholders,” said Anne Finucane, vice chair at Bank of America in a statement. “It provides an opportunity for fixed income investors to be part of the environmental and social change that we stand for by providing access to financing and investment, and socioeconomic empowerment, for underserved populations, as well as continuing to invest in the environmental transition towards a low-carbon economy,”
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