Morgan Stanley raises $500m through green bond program

On June 8, 2015, Morgan Stanley issued a $500 million green bond, which represents the firm’s inaugural offering to fund the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects which are anticipated, once fully completed, to help avoid and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Ahead of this offering, Morgan Stanley created a green bond framework that is aligned with the Green Bond Principles. The framework describes the process through which projects are selected to receive funding, with the aim of ensuring that the Morgan Stanley green bond operates with high levels of transparency, disclosure and verification. Proceeds from the sale of the notes will be deposited into a segregated Morgan Stanley account for tracking disbursements. An independent accountant will report with respect to stated disbursements.

DNV GL, an independent certification expert in renewables and energy efficiency, reviewed Morgan Stanley’s internal green bond framework and the adherence of the framework to the Green Bond Principles. Morgan Stanley is a founding signatory of the Green Bond Principles, which are voluntary guidelines for the development and issuance of green bonds, encouraging transparency, disclosure and integrity in the development of the green bond market.

Morgan Stanley has been a pioneer in green bonds, underwriting transactions globally for multilateral development banks, corporates, agencies and municipalities. Several of these transactions have included notable industry landmarks, including the first-ever corporate green bond, the first-ever automobile asset-backed securities green bond and the first-ever U.S. university green bond. Since 2013, Morgan Stanley has led 27 green bond transactions representing over $15 billion in aggregate principal amount.

Morgan Stanley’s green bond is part of the firm’s broader commitment to sustainable finance. In 2013, the firm established the Institute for Sustainable Investing which is dedicated to accelerating mainstream adoption of sustainable investing by developing industry-leading insights and scalable finance solutions to address global challenges.