London - Standard Chartered PLC ('the Group') has issued a USD 500 million senior unsecured Sustainability Bond, the proceeds of which will be used to finance activities that align to its updated Sustainability Bond Framework, including sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy and healthcare / COVID 19 lending.

The transaction marked the Group's first USD denominated Sustainability Bond, following the EUR denominated Sustainability Bond issued in 2019.

The transaction saw very strong demand from global investors with the orderbook peaking at USD 3.5bn, including a high degree of penetration of the sustainability investor base.

Richard Staff, Head of Capital Issuance and Term Funding, said: 'We are pleased with the strong reception this transaction received, both in terms of investor demand and positive feedback on our sustainable finance framework. The market for ESG bond issuance is growing at an impressive rate and we look forward to exploring new sustainability funding avenues in the future.'

Alex Kennedy, Head of Sustainable Finance Solutions, said: 'It was great to see such a positive response to our first USD Sustainability Bond issuance. Emerging markets are at the most risk from climate change (and wider ESG issues), and they also represent the biggest investment opportunity, but investment is not flowing to these areas where it matters the most and where the impact is expected to be greatest. This transaction will help to change this.'

Standard Chartered Bank acted as Sole Sustainability Structuring Advisor and Joint Lead Manager. Other joint Lead Managers were Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, ING Financial Markets LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and NatWest Markets Securities Inc.

- Ends -

For further information please contact:

Shaun Gamble

Executive Director, Group Media Relations

Standard Chartered Bank

Tel: +44 20 7885 5934

Email: shaun.gamble@sc.com

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Standard Chartered plc published this content on 17 March 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 25 March 2021 21:30:08 UTC.