Chilean Bank BCI’s sustainability financing framework fully aligned with market guidelines, says S&P Global Ratings
Q2 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
BCI's Sustainability Financing Framework Is Aligned With 2021 GBP And SBP
According to S&P Global Ratings’ latest Sustainability Financing Framework Alignment Opinion, Chilean Bank Banco de Credito e Inversiones (BCI)’s proposed sustainability financing framework is fully aligned with the four components of the Green Bond Principles 2021 (GBP) and the four components of the Social Bond Principles 2021 (SBP).
The fourth-largest bank in the Chilean financial system aims to promote environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors through financial and investment solutions to facilitate and accelerate corporations’ transition towards a climate-friendly economy and SMEs’ access to financial services and resilience to technological changes.
Key Takeaways
The key takeaways include:
- In its 2023 strategic plan, BCI outlines sustainability as one of its main strategic pillars, and it aims to achieve its economic, social and environmental objectives through its development of financing programs for clients and nonclients, such as “BCI Nace,” “Valor Pyme”, and green project finance.
- BCI commits to allocate all net proceeds of bonds and loans issued under its framework to exclusively (re)finance green and social projects or companies that fit the eligible categories, and the bank maps financed projects in line with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.
- BCI has established a well-defined process to ensure the eligibility of the assets. The framework provides information on processes to identify and manage environmental risks stemming from the projects and companies that it will finance, and will require clients of financed companies to answer a questionnaire based on the relevant ESG factor for the sectors according to SASB standards.
- BCI is aligned to the ‘management of proceeds’ component of the Principles as it commits to maintain an amount at least equal to the value of the instruments issued under this framework on a rolling basis, and funds will be managed in various sub-portfolios for green, social, and sustainable categories.
- BCI commits to annually report on current issuances, the amount of proceeds raised, the amount allocated by each category and the outstanding unallocated balance by the end of the period. It also commits to report on the environmental and social impacts of assets funded with the proceeds issued under this framework.
