The AIFC Green Finance Centre will be able to provide an external review for the London Stock Exchange Sustainable Bond market bonds
External reviews provided by the AIFC Green Finance Centre (Centre) are recognized by the London Stock Exchange for bonds traded under the Sustainable Bond Market (SBM) label, on condition of the independence from the issuer and the absence of a conflict of interest. This was made possible by the Centre’s entry into the map of providers of external review of the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) in 2021.
AIFC Green Finance Centre has been providing external review services for sustainable bonds and loans since 2020. The largest projects of the Centre in the outgoing year were the verification of a green loan from Halyk Bank worth 7.9 billion tenge, as well as green bonds of Samruk-Energy worth 18.4 billion tenge.
LSE was the first of the world’s largest exchanges to launch a special segment for “green” bonds. Currently, more than 260 debt instruments of various issuers are traded under the SBM label.
Reference:
The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is an independent jurisdiction that started operations in 2018. In accordance with the Development Strategy until 2025, the key focus of the AIFC is to consolidate as a universal platform connecting the countries of the EAEU, Central Asia and the Caucasus.
The AIFC Green Finance Centre is a subsidiary organisation of the AIFC Authority and the Eurasian Development Bank, aimed at introduction and development of sustainable finance instruments and attracting of investments in environmental and social projects in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
The AIFC Green Finance Centre supported the very first issuance of green bonds and first verified green loan in Kazakhstan. Also, the Centre introduced definitions of green finance and green taxonomy (a classifier of economic activities and projects that meet technical selection criteria) in the national environmental legislation. The new legislation provides incentives for entrepreneurs who use green finance instruments.
