Moscow Exchange hosts discussion on the future of sustainable finance

A conference on ‘Sustainable Finance: Green Bonds and ESG’ organized by S&P Global Ratings was held at Moscow Exchange’s offices on 26 February 2019.

The conference brought together representatives of Russia’s largest issuers, banks, development groups, institutional investors and the Central Bank of Russia.

Representatives of S&P Global Ratings presented on trends in the global green finance market, the outlook for the market globally and in Russia, current demand for green finance products from investors as well as the impact of ESG (environment, social and governance) criteria on the credit ratings of issuers.

Anna Kuznetsova, member of the Executive Board and Managing Director of the Equities and Bond Market at Moscow Exchange, spoke about MOEX’s plans to create an on-exchange business for the trading of green bonds to facilitate capital raising opportunities for companies engaged in environment and social initiatives. The Exchange will identify those securities for investors.

The global green finance market has grown rapidly in recent years. Today, the green and social bond market is worth more than USD 430 billion. According to Bloomberg, the primary market  for corporate green bond issuance exceeded USD 113 billion in 2018.