OCBC Bank has inaugurated an Islamic Sustainable Financing Facility for Permodalan Nasional Berhad with a GBP210 million Islamic Green Financing Facility (“Green Facility”) for PNB Jersey Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PNB.
The bank is the Sole Lead Arranger and Sustainability Structuring Adviser for the Green Facility to finance the refurbishment of PNB’s investment property located at One Exchange Square, 175 Bishopsgate, London. The Property is an office tower which has been designed to attain the “Excellent” rating under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (“BREEAM”) with a targeted NABERS UK 5-Star Rating post-completion, signifying PNB’s environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) commitment towards investing into green and transition assets. Upon completion of the refurbishment in 2026, the Property is expected to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in its operations through a combination of energy efficiency, electrification and on-site energy generation.
Rick Ramli, Chief Investment Officer, Private & Strategic Investments of Permodalan Nasional Berhad, said, “PNB has established 10 ESG commitments in our Sustainability Framework launched in 2022, which include investing up to RM10.0 billion of fresh capital into green and transition assets by 2030. As a government-linked fund management company, it is essential for us to embed ESG considerations into our investment decisions to augment our efforts in identifying opportunities for value creation and managing ESG risks.
The Green Facility is compliant with the “Green Loan Principles” published by the International Capital Market Association (“ICMA”), Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (“APLMA”) and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (“LSTA”) and is also in accordance with OCBC Group’s Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, which provides eligibility criteria for green, social and transition business activities to support the OCBC Group’s clients through sustainable finance solutions.
