Linklaters advises China Construction Bank on the first green bond issuance under the common taxonomy for sustainable finance between China and the EU

Linklaters acted as international legal advisor to China Construction Bank Macau Branch on its issuance of US$500m floating rate senior green notes. This transaction marks the first green bond issuance under the Common Ground Taxonomy-Climate Change Mitigation (CGT), jointly published by the People’s Bank of China and the European Commission in November 2021. The CGT is a key milestone in providing clarity about the commonality and differences between the EU and China’s green taxonomies. It is expected to play a pivotal role in increasing comparability of sustainable finance taxonomies and definitions of green, sustainable activities globally, according to the International Platform on Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Working Group.

The green bonds also represent China Construction Bank’s first bond issuance referencing the US dollar Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).

The Linklaters team was led by capital markets partner Terence Lau.

Linklaters has supported clients on some of the most innovative and high profile ESG transactions, including advising on a host of firsts in the bond markets in Asia and globally:

• Europe’s first sustainability-linked bonds by Enel
• New World Development’s sustainability-linked bonds – the world’s first US dollar sustainability-linked bonds by a real estate company
• China Construction Bank’s landmark multi-branch ESG bond issuance – the first sustainability-linked bonds by a PRC issuer and a global systemically important bank (G-SIB)
• the world’s first sovereign sustainability sukuk by the Government of Malaysia
• the world’s first sustainability re-linked notes by Bank of China