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The 3 largest corporate syndicated loan issuances in the region in 2023 were Trafigura Pte Ltd for a USD 2.73 billion equivalent dual currency CNH-USD facility, Vitol Asia Ptd Ltd for a USD 2.60 billion facility, and CIP V Singapore Holding Pte Ltd for a CNY 16 billion facility. Among the mandated lead arranging banks, DBS maintained the top spot from 2022, followed closely by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank, making up market shares of 8.64%, 7.31% and 7.04% respectively. Among the bookrunners, SMBC claimed the top spot, followed by DBS and United Overseas Bank, with market shares of 7.82%, 6.70% and 6.64% respectively.
ESG
2023 has seen the lowest volume of sustainability-linked loans issuance since 2020, closing the year with USD 40 billion issued across the APAC ex-Japan region, a 44% drop from the $72 billion issued in 2022. This slump follows a period of rapid growth during the pandemic, with rising challenges around reporting transparency and potential for greenwashing. Innovations such as “sleeping” sustainability-linked transactions in which ESG targets are not disclosed until a later date during a loan agreement, have raised questions about the eligibility of certain loans to be classified as ESG debt. However, 2024 is expecting to see a pick-up in volume as roughly $27 billion SLL are set to be due across the region and may seek refinancing.
Across the APAC ex-Japan markets, most syndicated lending volume for SLL came from issuers based in Singapore (20.32%), China (17.50%), and Australia (13.37%). In terms of sustainability targets, Greenhouse gas emissions continued to be the most popular KPI (50%), followed by Gender Equality (19%) and Water consumption (15%). The Airtrunk deal syndicated for AUD 4.7 billion was the largest SLL of the year, attracting more than 30 banks and credit funds. The loan’s key performance indicators include carbon usage, power usage, water usage, gender diversity, and gender pay parity. HSBC leads as the top bookrunner for SLL issuance across the region this year, followed by Standard Chartered and China Merchants Bank. Among the mandated lead arrangers, Bank of China takes the top spot with Standard Chartered and DBS in second and third.
Syndicated lending for Green assets and projects totaled USD 30 billion in 2023, a 27.3% decrease in issuance volume from 2022. Singapore borrowers (32%) continued to issue the most green loans within the region, followed by Australian (17%) and Taiwan (16%) borrowers. Renewable energy projects (49%) dominated amongst the ESG project categories, followed closely by Green buildings and infrastructure (38%).
Most notable in the renewable energy space are the Hai Long Offshore Wind Power (USD 3.6 billion-equivalent loan) and Yunneng Wind Power (extension of USD 2.7 billion-equivalent loan) projects, both of which aim to build wind farms and wind power generation infrastructure in Taiwan. Within the green buildings and infrastructure space, deal to note is the USD 1.6 billion loan issued to Boulevard Development Pte Ltd. The Boulevard Midtown development of residential and hotel components at Marina View in Singapore is expected to achieve a Green Mark certification by the Building and Construction Authority. UOB leads as the top bookrunner and mandated lead arranger in green loan issuance this year, followed by bookrunners Mizuho Financial and ANZ Group Holdings, and mandated arrangers DBS and OCBC.
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