ASIA: South-east Asia poised for sustainable bond lift-off

While 2023 was a slowdown year for the sustainable bond market worldwide, the Asean+3 region (the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus China, Japan and South Korea) slowed down less than most. Thanks mainly to higher interest rates, global sustainable bond issuance declined from $896.1bn in 2022 to $846.2bn last year, or a 5.9 per cent drop, according to the Asian Development Bank’s Asia Bond Market March 2024 report.

But the Asean+3 region saw only a 1.4 per cent decline in sustainable bond issuance year-on-year in 2023, allowing the region’s share of the world’s market to inch up from 27.4 per cent in 2022 to 28.6 per cent in 2023. Sustainable bond issuance in Asean+3 totalled $242bn in 2023, only slightly below the eurozone’s $288.8bn.

19 December 2024

EU: Driving green finance with Europe’s new label

The European Green Bond Standard (EUGBS), a landmark regulatory framework for sustainable bonds, will take effect on 21 December 2024. Issuers may then use the “European green bond” or “EuGB”

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19 April 2024

ASIA: Singapore faces competition from Thailand and Malaysia as regional hub for multinationals

While Singapore still holds advantages in location, language proficiency, and financial services, rising costs are prompting Japanese and European companies to consider relocating specific functions,

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12 March 2024

EUROPE: EU finance ministers set Capital Markets Union priorities until 2029

European Union finance ministers on Monday set out priorities for creating a Capital Markets Union over the next five years to attract private capital to Europe and help fund the costly transition to

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11 September 2024

Government urged to act after four more tax avoidance schemes identified

As reported in LondonLovesBisiness.com on wednesday 11 September, HMRC has added four more tax avoidance schemes to its list of known avoidance promoters. The update, issued on 5 September, should

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