HF Issues Social MBS
- Date 2019-03-05
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HF Issues Social MBS
- With social MBS, HF set to lay the foundation to boost socially responsible investing in Korea
Korea Housing Finance Corporation (HF, CEO Lee Jung-Hwan) announced on March 5, 2019, that it will issue all MBS in the form of social bonds*, starting from its MBS issuance scheduled on March 8, 2019.
* Social bonds are special-purpose bonds issued to raise investment funds for projects to be undertaken for improved social outcomes, such as greater housing welfare.
HF is the first in the world to issue MBS in social bonds. This year, it is going to issue KRW 30 trillion of MBS. Out of the total MBS issuance, KRW 26 trillion of MBS will be issued in social bonds. Sustainalytics*, a sustainability rating agency, has highly praised HF’s social bond issuance in that it contributes to deliver social values, more specifically, greater housing welfare and greater stability in the housing finance market.
* Sustainalytics: A global environmental, social, and governance (ESG) research and analysis service provider based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
An HF official said, “After our successful issuance of Asia’s first euro social covered bonds last October, we are going to issue Korean-won denominated social MBS, ensuring a stable supply of ESG bonds* in the Korean market. We hope this will help stimulate socially responsible investing in our nation.”
* Bonds that deliver environmental, social, and governance-related impacts and objectives