CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America
announced today 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. This
label indicates 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 (together "eligible assets").
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. In addition, the eligible Green Asset categories have
been expanded to include sustainable water and wastewater
management, green buildings and carbon capture.
"This bond offering demonstrates our continued commitment to
sustainable development and delivers shared value between us and
our stakeholders. 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," said Anne
Finucane, Vice Chair at Bank of America.
"ESG-themed securities are scaling finance to critically-needed
services, such as healthcare and affordable housing, and
environmentally-focused projects across communities. This bond
issuance will promote financing for, and investments in,
underserved communities and minority- and women-led businesses, and
will help drive the adoption of more low-carbon solutions" said
Tom Montag, Chief Operating Officer
at Bank of America. "This transaction is unique because Bank of
America will allocate the bond proceeds only to eligible assets
that are funded after the issue date of the bond, which is
different from many similar transactions in the market."
The four-year bond, which is callable in three years, will pay
interest semi-annually at a fixed rate of 1.53% for the first three
years, and quarterly at a floating rate thereafter. BofA Securities
was the sole bookrunner on the deal and six minority- or
women-owned broker dealers served as joint-lead managers – Cabrera,
CastleOak, C.L. King, Loop Capital, R. Seelaus & Co and
Siebert Williams Shank.
Within one year of the issuance of today's Equality Progress
Sustainability Bond, Bank of America will publish a report related
to the use of proceeds of the bond on the company's ESG-Themed
Issuance webpage, located on the Bank of America Investor Relations
website. The information in the report regarding allocation to
eligible assets will be updated at least annually as long as the
bond remains outstanding.
Since 2013, Bank of America has issued $11.85 billion across nine Green, Social and
Sustainability Bonds – five "Green" Bonds, two "Social" Bonds, and
two "Sustainability" Bonds, including today's issuance – which
focused on areas such as clean energy, energy efficiency,
affordable housing and community development, and addressing the
global coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, Bank of America
co-authored the original Green Bond Principles, a voluntary set of
guidelines and standards meant to bring integrity to this market
where proceeds help to directly finance environmental projects.
Bank of America has also been a member of the executive committee
of the industry group that provides guidance on ESG-themed bond
issuances since its inception.
These efforts underscore Bank of America's long-standing
leadership in ESG and demonstrate the company's commitment to
advancing environmental transition and social inclusive development
as part of its sustainable finance goal of deploying $1.5 trillion in capital by 2030. In addition,
BofA Securities has helped clients across all sectors support their
sustainable business needs by raising in excess of $400 billion in principal amount through more
than 550 ESG-themed bond offerings, including Green, Social and
Sustainability Bonds.
To learn more about Bank of America's ESG-themed issuances or to
view past financed projects, please visit Bank of America's
Investor Relations website. Learn more about Bank of America's ESG
efforts at about.bankofamerica.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute
"forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements represent the current expectations, plans or forecasts
of Bank of America based on available information. Forward-looking
statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate
strictly to historical or current facts. These statements often use
words like "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates,"
"targets," "intends," "plans," "predict," "goal" and other similar
expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "may,"
"might," "should," "would" and "could." Forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date they are made, and Bank of America
undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to
reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the
date the forward-looking statement was made.
Forward-looking statements represent Bank of America's current
expectations, plans or forecasts of its future results, revenues,
expenses, efficiency ratio, capital measures, and future business
and economic conditions more generally, and other future matters,
including possible issuances of green, social or sustainability
securities and other statements about future events and
expectations, including with respect to Bank of America's ESG
strategy and its sustainable finance goal of $1.5 trillion by 2030. These statements are not
guarantees of its future results or performance and involve certain
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are
difficult to predict and are often beyond Bank of America's
control. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from
those expressed in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements.
Future events or circumstances may change Bank of America's
approach to possible green, social or sustainability securities
issuances or result in changes to the ESG-themed Issuance Framework
or Bank of America's sustainability strategy and commitments
generally. You should not place undue reliance on any
forward-looking statement and should consider all of the
uncertainties and risks discussed under Item 1A. "Risk Factors" of
Bank of America's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2020 and in any of Bank
of America's other subsequent Securities and Exchange Commission
filings.
Bank of America
At Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), we're guided by a common purpose
to help make financial lives better, through the power of every
connection. We're delivering on this through responsible growth
with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG)
leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and
reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and
credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for,
invest in and do business with. It's demonstrated in the
inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the
responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the
impact we make around the world in helping local economies
thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong
partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as
community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring
together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater
impact.
For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements
and other important information, visit the Bank of America
newsroom and register for news email alerts.
Reporters may contact:
Kelly
Sapp, Bank of America (Sustainable Finance and ESG)
Phone: 1.980.214.3070
Kelly.E.Sapp@bofa.com
Tom Rottcher, Bank of America
(Debt Capital Markets)
Phone: 1.973.590.7660
Thomas.F.Rottcher@bofa.com
Investors may contact:
Jonathan Blum, Bank of America (Fixed
Income)
Phone: 1.212.449.3112
jonathan.blum@bofa.com
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SOURCE Bank of America Corporation