Page 304 - 2019 6th AFIS & ASMMA
P. 304

» Moderator  |  You Tay Lee                                                               more or less the same thing. Because investors want to see the same
               Then, are there any regulatory developments or constraints, for                        treatment around the globe. In the next couple of years, we will have a
            smaller sized issuers in issuing green bonds?                                             massive change in terms of regulation, and we have to be just ready to
                                                                                                      comply with them.


            » Panelist  |  Maureen Schuller
               Yes, I think if you look at all the regulatory developments, as Luca                   » Moderator  |  You Tay Lee                                           Session I
            earlier addressed, you will see it is actually quite difficult to find a                    Okay, Colin Chen, are Asian issuers keeping an eye on European
            substantial portfolio of eligible assets. And yes, I think that particularly              developments to establish alternative scheme with the taxonomy aligned?
            for smaller issuers, it would be more difficult to establish a sizable
            portfolio to bring a benchmark size green bond to the market.
                                                                                                      » Panelist  |  Colin Yee Seng Chen
                                                                                                        Well, I think certainly given where the markets are, they are all global
            » Moderator  |  You Tay Lee                                                               markets today, and many of us in this room and around the region, as
               Luca, do you want to add more on the regulatory landscape?                             much as we try to develop the local bond markets and the local capital
                                                                                                      markets, it is also imperative to keep abreast of the developments on
                                                                                                      the European level. So, with covered bonds in particular, you know the
            » Panelist  |  Luca Bertalot                                                              Europeans have now come under their covered bond directive. And
               Yes, we hope that the regulatory landscape will change very soon in                    many of the jurisdictions in Asia, Singapore, Korea, and Australia, we are
            Europe, including in terms of LCR solvency II.  These could be changing                   looking at our own internal regulations to see how close or how weak,
            very soon. As for the European Commission, now the taxonomy is a                          what else we can do so as to be sufficiently harmonized with that of the
            declaration of intention, but the legislation will be made at the end of the              European covered bond directive. That is a product in itself, but with the
            year. So, the impact in all the different regulations in Europe can be quite              global taxonomy and that of sustainability, I think having a third party
            massive for us. And once the regulation changes, I think the demand of                    accreditation and having a third party ability to assess the use of terms
            investors will be more systemic towards ESG.  That's why I think, though                  and the UOPs, it is imperative to ensure it becomes a global ecosystem.
            we are testing the market now, the flow can increase quite substantially                  And with an ecosystem, hopefully the regulators, the private sector
            before long, as the demand will increase radically in Europe, probably                    participants, and the issuers can come together and ensure the depth and
            in the next 2-3 years. The industry should start to reflect these changes.                liquidity of the market increase.
            On one end, I'm a lobbyist, so we have to produce evidence to support
            this regulatory change to the European Commission, but also to all the
            central banks of the globe, we have tried to do the same thing.                           » Moderator  |  You Tay Lee
                                                                                                        Yes, in Singapore, you issued ESG bonds in both environmental and
               For example, if the European Central Bank is implementing ESG                          social areas. What about the governance? Any examples of governance
            parameters for repo transaction, I'm just hoping for this, we have to                     bonds around the world? I haven't seen anything.
            lobby for the same thing in Singapore, we have to go to speak to the
            mass, and we have to come to speak to the Central Bank here, to make




       306                                                                                            2019 6th AFIS & ASMMA Annual Meeting                            307
   299   300   301   302   303   304   305   306   307   308   309