Climate Finance
Impact investing has been adapting tools of mainstream finance to drive capital toward social impact.
Now comes a $3 billion securitization, billed as perhaps the first “socially responsible synthetic risk transfer.”
Crédit Agricole’s Corporate and Investment Bank issued $3 billion in notes to U.S.-based hedge fund Mariner Investment, backed by a portfolio of real asset loans to more than 200 borrowers.
Crédit Agricole will use at least $2 billion of the proceeds for new investment in the green sector, including renewable energy finance, energy efficiency lending for commercial real estate, and public transportation.
The bank will report on the composition of the new green portfolio following the Green Bond Framework.
Mariner’s Molly Whitehouse said she hopes the deal “will be the first in a wave of issuances of Green Capital Notes.”
Synthetic securitizations are not known for their positive social impact: collateralized loan obligations and mortgage-backed securities gained notoriety in the financial crisis of 2008.
This post is from ImpactAlpha’s daily newsletter. Get it first in The Brief.
