OCBC emerges as APAC's top lead arranger of green loans from 2018-2020YTD

Singapore’s OCBC and DBS accounted for $5.47b of such loans.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) is the top lead arranger of green and sustainability-linked syndicated and club loans for Asia Pacific corporates excluding Japan from 2018 to 2020 year to date, according to date compiled by fixed income research provider Debtwire, a company under financial news firm Acuris.

OCBC arranged loans that gained an aggregated principal of more than $2.9b (US$2.1b) across 22 deals during the period. Of the deals, 13 were for Singaporean clients, whilst the rest were for corporates in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand.

DBS came in second with $2.47b (US$1.77b) from 17 deals. HSBC followed with $2.42b (US$1.73b) in deal value, although the bank was the most active by numbers, accounting for 23 transactions.

Overall, sustainability-linked loans across the region raised a total of about $32.06b (US$22.96b).

So far in 2020, green and sustainability-linked-loan volumes in the region were at $5.17b (US$3.7b) via 13 deals, down 9.8% by value from the same period last year. The largest deal so far came in May, when Malaysian telecommunication conglomerate Axiata Group signed a $1.11b (US$800m)-equivalent first-ever shariah-compliant sustainability-linked loan, noted Debtwire.