Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s ( ICBC ) Singapore branch has priced a green bond amounting to 3.5 billion yuan ( US$490 million ) to finance carbon-reduction projects.

The three-year senior unsecured fixed-rate notes with a coupon of 1.82% started trading on the Singapore Exchange ( SGX ) on August 7 and will be settled on August 13. The issuance is part of ICBC’s US$20 billion global medium-term note programme.

Joint global coordinators, lead managers, and bookrunners are ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China CITIC Bank International, CCB Singapore, Crédit Agricole CIB, DBS Bank, and Standard Chartered. Crédit Agricole CIB also acts as the green structuring adviser.

Sustainalytics and Beijing Zhongcai Green Financing Consultant provided the second-party opinion for the issuance.

The green note is arranged under the theme of carbon neutrality, with 100% of its proceeds dedicated to carbon-reduction green projects as defined in ICBC’s green bond framework, which aligns with both China's green bond endorsed projects catalogue ( 2021 edition ) and the International Capital Market Association’s Green Bond Principles.

The use of proceeds is also in line with Multi-jurisdiction Common Ground Taxonomy, which provides a common framework for assessing the greenness of economic activities. The taxonomy was developed by and is recognized by China, Singapore, and the European Union.

ICBC is an active green bond issuer both at home and abroad. Last year, the bank issued green bonds amounting to 110 billion yuan in the domestic interbank bond market and US$21.7 billion overseas.