KfW offers investors liquid bonds again in the second half of 2019

Frankfurt am Main (ots) -

- Funding volume for 2019 remains unchanged at around EUR 80
billion
- International investors can continue to expect liquid KfW bonds
to be issued, including "Green Bonds - Made by KfW"
- Strong commitment to alignment of capital markets to
sustainability

KfW maintains its borrowing requirements on the capital markets to
refinance its promotional business for 2019 at around EUR 80 billion
- this is the result of its semi-annual review. As of 30 June 2019,
the promotional bank had already raised around EUR 54 billion on the
international capital markets by issuing 90 bonds in 11 different
currencies - this is equivalent to around 67% of the total funding
volume in 2019. When adding to this the bonds KfW issued in the first
week of July, the funding volume now reaches nearly EUR 59 billion.

Despite market conditions which were characterised by falling
yields, KfW bonds remain in high demand worldwide - for example, in
June a five-year Euro Benchmark bond with a record low yield of
-0.31% was placed. Currently all KfW bonds in euros with maturities
of up to 10 years are trading with negative yields.

KfW is very confident about the green bond market segment. In May
2019, it successfully enhanced the appeal of its green bonds by
expanding its green bond issuance programme: while since 2014 the
proceeds from issuing these bonds have been used to refinance the
"Renewable Energies - Standard" promotional programme, since May 2019
they have also been used to finance energy-efficient new buildings,
enabling higher volumes and thus more liquid bonds to be issued.
Right after this innovation was announced, KfW issued a EUR 3 billion
green bond with an 8-year term, which was oversubscribed by a factor
of almost three. Shortly thereafter, KfW issued a SEK 7 billion green
bond, making it the largest green bond in Swedish krona so far.

"The expansion of our green bond issuance programme has been very
well received by market participants. It is very encouraging to see
that demand for sustainable investment is growing steadily both
nationally and internationally," explains Dr Frank Czichowski,
Treasurer of KfW Group. The total volume of "Green Bonds - Made by
KfW" now amounts to around EUR 18.3 billion and should reach over EUR
20 billion by the end of the year.

KfW also supports the development of the green bond market segment
as an investor. Year-to date EUR 142 million were invested. KfW's
green bond portfolio thus now amounts to EUR 1.4 billion.

Strong commitment to sustainable finance in the financial hub of
Frankfurt and in Europe

Two events in June of this year particularly testify to the
commitment of Germany and German market participants to the issue of
"green and sustainable finance":

On the one hand, the Annual Meeting of the "Green Bond Principles
and Social Bond Principles" (GBP, SBP) was held on 13 June 2019 in
Frankfurt. The activities of GBP/SBP and essential market
developments were presented and discussed. KfW is pleased to have
been re-elected as a member of the Executive Committee (ExCom) and
will thus continue to be involved in ExCom and in the working groups
"Impact Reporting" and "Green Projects Eligibility".

Only a few days later, on 18 June 2019, the European Commission
published the reports of the Technical Expert Group (TEG) under the
"EU Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth" on taxonomy, the EU
Green Bond Standard and benchmarks. German representatives were
involved in all TEG workstreams. KfW was active in the expert group
on taxonomy and the EU Green Bond Standard, thus contributing its
expertise as one of the largest financiers in environmental
protection and climate change mitigation. 

KfW welcomes TEG's recommendations for introducing a voluntary EU
Green Bond Standard based largely on existing best practice. The
green bond market has shown very positive development, especially
since the introduction of the Green Bond Principles in 2014, and this
development is supported by the recommended standard.

From KfW's point of view, the TEG recommendations on taxonomy are
generally welcome, as they provide all market participants,
regulators and policymakers with the basis for a common understanding
of what can be classified as "green and sustainable"; this saves time
and money in the long term and helps to prevent reputational risks.
In particular, the recommendations set out basic principles and
thresholds that must be respected in order for a financing measure to
be considered sustainable. The use of the taxonomy by market
participants will largely depend on the necessary qualitative and
quantitative availability of information and data. KfW also takes a
positive view of the recommendation to define not only measures as
sustainable that are already low-carbon today, but also those that
will contribute to the transition to a net zero carbon emission
economy in 2050.

Service:

- Facts and figures on KfW's funding in the first half of 2019:
http://ots.de/Ma5ZAG

- Detailed information on "Green Bonds - Made by KfW":
http://ots.de/lIqVNa

Contact:
KfW, Palmengartenstr. 5 - 9, 60325 Frankfurt
Kommunikation (KOM), Nathalie Cahn
Tel. +49 (0)69 7431 2098, Fax: +49 (0)69 7431 3266,
E-Mail: Nathalie.Cahn@kfw.de, Internet: www.kfw.de

Original-Content von: KfW, übermittelt durch news aktuell