Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) announced it’s the first investment bank to join the ESG Integrated Disclosure Project (ESG IDP), a global industry initiative designed to harmonize environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures across the private and broadly syndicated credit markets. Natixis CIB also becomes a member of the ESG IDP Executive Committee.
Formed by the Alternative Credit Council (ACC), the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), and the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the ESG IDP is a collaborative industry initiative to improve transparency and accountability, promoting greater harmonization and consistency of disclosure of key ESG indicators in private credit and syndicated loan transactions.
The ESG IDP template provides borrowers with a harmonized and standardized means to report ESG information to their lenders. Use of the template aims to streamline the disclosure process for borrowers and enables lenders to receive consistent data from sponsored and non-sponsored borrowers across the private and broadly syndicated credit markets. By providing a global baseline for ESG information requests, the template encourages more consistent reporting and support material comparison across the industry.
The ESG IDP Executive Committee, of which Natixis CIB is the most recent member, is under the leadership of Michael Kashani as head of ESG Credit at Apollo Global Management and chair of the Executive Committee, and Jeffrey Cohen as head of ESG & Sustainability at Oak Hill Advisors and vice chair of the Executive Committee.
Thomas Girard, global head of Green & Sustainable Syndicate at Natixis CIB, said in a statement “Being a member of this initiative allows Natixis CIB to continue demonstrating our leadership in green and sustainable finance. Supporting this initiative will also allow us to continue to provide guidance in ESG integration in private markets, while reinforcing our understanding of investors needs and our ability to maximize the rotation of our balance sheet.”
Nicholas Smith, managing director for Private Credit at Alternative Credit Council, said in a statement:: “This is an important step towards greater harmonization of ESG disclosures in the private and broadly syndicated credit markets, and improving transparency and accountability for investors.”