TORONTO, April 24, 2019 /CNW/ - Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) announced today its inaugural
EUR500 million 5-year Green Bond
offering. The money raised will fund a portfolio of new and
existing assets primarily in the categories of renewable energy and
green buildings. Other eligible categories for the allocation of
Green Bond proceeds include: clean transportation, sustainable
water and wastewater management, environmentally sustainable
management of living natural resources and land use, energy
efficiency, and pollution prevention and control.
RBC's Green Bond Framework is in line with the ICMA Green Bond
Principles and has been reviewed by Sustainalytics, a leading
independent global provider of environmental, social and governance
research and ratings and an expert in the green bond market.
While RBC is a leading underwriter of Green Bonds with
best-in-class execution capabilities across multiple currencies and
geographies - this will be the first issuance of a Green Bond by
RBC. According to David Power,
Vice-President, Corporate Treasury, RBC, "The issuance of Green
Bonds will further diversify our funding sources and satisfy the
needs of investors that have green mandates."
RBC has a history of environmental leadership, dating back to
1991 when we launched our first corporate environmental policy. In
2017, we published our Climate Change Position &
Disclosure Statement outlining the steps we are taking to
manage climate risks and opportunities, as well as our ongoing
commitment to climate-related disclosures. Our enterprise wide
approach to climate change focuses on accelerating clean economic
growth and supporting our clients in the low-carbon transition with
our products, services and advice.
"RBC is a purpose-driven organization, and how we act is just as
important as what we achieve," said Valerie
Chort, Vice-President, Corporate Citizenship, RBC. "Our
participation in the green bond market helps RBC deliver on our
coordinated, enterprise-wide approach to accelerate clean economic
growth and transition to environmental sustainability. We are proud
to be delivering environmentally and socially responsible options
to our clients."
"We are proud to finance environmentally responsible businesses
and projects that promote the transition to a more efficient and
sustainable lower-carbon economy," said Patti Shugart, Managing Director and Global
Head, Corporate Banking and Global Credit, RBC Capital Markets.
About Green Bonds
Since their introduction in 2007,
Green Bonds have become mainstream in the financial community with
the annual issuance of Green Bonds reaching $167 billion in 2018, according to the Climate
Bonds Initiative.
About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with
a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading
performance. Our success comes from the 84,000+ employees who bring
our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients
thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank, and one of the largest
in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified
business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional
experiences to our 16 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 33 other countries. Learn
more at rbc.com.
We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives
through donations, community investments and employee volunteer
activities. See how at rbc.com/community-sustainability.
Disclaimer
This press release does not constitute or
form part of and should not be construed as, an offer to sell or
issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or acquire Green Bonds
of Royal Bank of Canada in any
jurisdiction, including the United
States, or an inducement to enter into investment activity.
No part of this press release, nor the fact of its distribution,
should form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any
contract or commitment or investment decision whatsoever. The
distribution of this press release and of the information it
contains may be subject to legal restrictions in some
countries.
Persons who might come into possession of it must inquire as to
the existence of such restrictions and comply with them. This is
not a prospectus under the Prospectus Directive (Directive
2003/71/EC, as amended or superseded) and investors in the European
Economic Area should not subscribe for or purchase Green Bonds
except on the basis of information in the Notes Base Prospectus of
Royal Bank of Canada dated
September 24, 2018 (the "Base
Prospectus") as supplemented from time to time. The Base Prospectus
and any supplements thereto are available on the website of the
Regulatory News Service operated by the London Stock Exchange at
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-home.html
under the name of Royal Bank of Canada and the headline "Publication of
Prospectus".
This press release is only being distributed to and is only
directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) to investment
professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial
Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the
"Order") or (iii) high net worth entities, and other persons to
whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article
49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being
referred to as "Relevant Persons"). The Green Bonds are only
available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe,
purchase or otherwise acquire such Green Bonds will be engaged in
only with, Relevant Persons. Any person who is not a Relevant
Person should not act or rely on this press release or any of its
contents. This press release is intended to provide non-exhaustive,
general information.
Manufacturer target market (MiFID II product governance) is
eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all
distribution channels). No PRIIPs key information document (KID)
has been prepared as not available to retail in European Economic
Area.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of certain securities laws, including the "safe
harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable Canadian
securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically
identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "foresee",
"forecast", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "goal", "plan" and
"project" and similar expressions of future or conditional verbs
such as "will", "may", "should", "could" or "would".
By their very nature, forward-looking statements require us to
make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and
uncertainties, which give rise to the possibility that our
predictions, forecasts, projections, expectations or conclusions
will not prove to be accurate, or that our assumptions may not be
correct. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these
statements as a number of risk factors could cause our actual
results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in
such forward-looking statements. These risks– many of which are
beyond our control and the effects of which can be difficult to
predict – include the risk that the businesses and projects funded
with the proceeds from Green bonds will not meet our Green Bond
Framework or an investor's expectations or requirements, whether as
to green impact or outcome or otherwise; and the risk that we may
not be able to allocate the proceeds of Green bonds to finance
eligible businesses and projects; We caution that the foregoing
list of risk factors is not exhaustive and other factors could also
adversely affect our results.
When relying on our forward looking statements to make decisions
with respect to us, investors and others should carefully consider
the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.
Except as required by law, we do not undertake to update any
forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be
made from time to time by us or on our behalf. Additional
information about these and other factors can be found in the risk
section of the Base Prospectus, as supplemented from time to time,
the risk sections of our 2018 Annual Report and the Risk management
section of our Q1 2019 Report to Shareholders.
Information contained in or otherwise accessible through the
websites mentioned does not form part of this press release. All
references in this press release to websites are inactive textual
references and are for your information only.
SOURCE Royal Bank of Canada