BNP Paribas Asset Management, Mirova, and Robeco are seeking interested investors to join potential engagement with the Republic of the Philippines on issues covering the governance and transparency of the use of proceeds spending from its national sustainability bond programme. 

Concerns have been raised that proceeds from Sustainability Bonds issued by the Republic may have potentially been caught up in major corruption claims surrounding flood mitigation projects in the nation. In response, the Republic issued a press release on December 2nd in which it “reaffirms its unwavering commitment to integrity, transparency, and accountability in the management of proceeds from its Sustainability-Labelled Bonds” and stated the use of proceeds were being verified under its issuance framework and via second-party opinion providers.

Participating investors are subsequently seeking clarification via an Open Dialogue/Engagement letter on a range of further issues related to standards of project execution & evaluation, transparency, and granularity of financed projects and broader institutional measures against corruption. The deadline to include signatories to the letter is February 27th.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact Gino Beteta at g.beteta.vejarano@robeco.nl.