MUFG EMEA and Doha Bank announced the close of their first green repo in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This transaction marks the first green repo for both institutions that uses green bonds as the underlying collateral.
Green repo uses the proceeds of green collateral, such as green bonds, to finance further green initiatives. In this case, cash proceeds generated from the repurchase of green bonds issued by the State of Qatar will be committed to the funding and purchase of green assets aligned to Doha Bank’s Sustainable Finance Framework.
Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Fahad Al-Thani, Group CEO at Doha Bank, said in a statement: “Innovative products such as green repos are central to Doha Bank’s ESG initiative. These funding initiatives help in raising liquidity to invest into ‘green eligible’ collateral that act as a bridge in achieving our sustainability targets in line with Qatar National Vision 2030″.
Andre Van Hese, international head of Securities Financing at MUFG, said in a statement: “MUFG remains committed to working with clients in the MENA region to build bespoke solutions to help navigate the importance of fostering an ESG compliant ecosystem. This transaction is a testament to our efforts and we look forward to building on this success as the region moves to execute on its ambitious sustainability strategy”.
According to analysis by MUFG, regulators and policymakers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies are undertaking extensive investments to progress net zero target across the region, focused on decarbonizing high-carbon emitting sectors in hydrocarbon production, power generation and industrial production.