Asia sprouts first corporate green bond

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering has sold Asia’s first corporate green bond, a $300 million three-year debt offering, which should encourage others with environmentally sustainable projects to tap global capital markets at much more competitive funding levels.

Although Europe and the US are the pioneers in sustainable financing, having issued many of these types of instruments over the past couple of years, Asia is gradually catching up. Syndicate bankers are confident that Advanced Semiconductor’s bond will set the scene for more to come.

“It’s quite clear that having an issuer of this quality come to the market has provided a catalyst for the further development of the green bond...