#Dubai’s Top Bank Is Said to Raise Gulf’s First Sustainable Loan - Bloomberg

Dubai’s Top Bank Is Said to Raise Gulf’s First Sustainable Loan - Bloomberg

Emirates NBD PJSC is raising around $1.75 billion in the Gulf region’s first sustainability-linked loan to refinance existing debt, according to people with knowledge of the plans.

Dubai’s biggest bank has shaved off about 25 to 30 basis points in the overall cost of the three-year loan, two of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Emirates NBD’s existing three-year facility came at an all-inclusive cost of 97.5 basis points over Libor.

Nearly 20 banks are participating in the loan, the people said. Emirates NBD has linked sustainability metrics including gender diversity in top management roles and water conservation to the loan. A spokesperson for the Dubai lender declined to comment.

Sustainability-linked loans tie deal spreads to borrowers’ performance in environmental, social and governance goals that can be measured by key performance indicators or external ESG ratings. Such deals include so-called margin ratchets, which will see companies pay less if they hit specific goals, or more if they miss their targets.