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Green finance in APAC to grow amidst data and disclosure gaps

11 months ago

Green finance is proving to be a rapidly growing sector in 2021. Based on data from the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), 2021 green bond issuances might exceed that of last year, with $219.7b issued for the first half of 2021 compared to the US$290.1b issued in 2020. Bonds issued from the Asia-Pacific made up more than a quarter of the first half’s figures, at US$51.9b, just a few millions short from the US$53.2b issued for the entire year of 2020.

China issued approximately US$22b worth of green bonds in the first half, exceeding the combined issuances from South Korea (US$5.9b), Japan (US$5.5b), Singapore (US$5.2b), and India (US$4.6b). Separate from Mainland China’s, a total of US$3.2b worth of green bonds was issued from Hong Kong SAR.

Hong Kong is taking its sustainable finance strategy seriously, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority-led Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group focused on implementing

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FASB to Explore Greater Disclosure of Supply-Chain Financing

2 years ago

Investors are a step closer to gaining greater clarity on companies’ so-called supply-chain finance programs.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board, the private organization that sets accounting standards, voted Wednesday to add to its agenda a project exploring greater disclosure surrounding the arrangements.

Supply-chain finance is essentially a form of short-term borrowing to pay for goods and services. The funding, often provided by banks, pays a company’s suppliers earlier than they would normally be paid, at a slight discount. The company then pays the bank later, allowing the company to hang on to cash longer.

Financial institutions that offer such funding include

Citigroup Inc.,

Greensill Capital and HSBC Holdings PLC. Coca-Cola Co. and

Boeing Co.

and many other blue-chip companies make use of the financing.

The tool has attracted scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, ratings firms and market participants, some of whom say it allows companies to portray

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