On the 22nd of October 2022, Euronext Securities Porto carried out a global external test of business continuity with the activation of its disaster recovery center, allowing financial intermediaries to verify Euronext Securities Porto’s recovery capacity, acting normally from their own offices. This test is part of the plan for the verification of the adequacy and of the operation of the recovery procedures and necessary resources as described in the Business Continuity Plan of Euronext Securities Porto.

This test is part of the plan for the verification of the adequacy and of the operation of the recovery procedures and necessary resources as described in the Business Continuity Plan of Euronext Securities Porto.

Euronext Securities Porto took advantage of the availability of the T2S platform during a non-working day to test with external participation the activation of the Business Continuity Plan. This availability was made possible by ECB extending the real time settlement window after the NTS settlement on the night from Friday to Saturday until Saturday afternoon.

The test was open to the voluntary participation of all financial intermediaries affiliated to Euronext Securities Porto, and eight institutions participated in this test of the disaster recovery center by accessing from their own offices, namely Banco Comercial Português, S.A, Banco Santander Totta, S.A., Banco Finantia, S.A., BNP Paribas Securities Services, S.A., Citibank International, PLC, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, S.A., Caixa Banco de Investimento, S.A and Banco de Portugal (DMR).

The test began on Saturday morning with a simulated incident, which left its main data center unavailable, with the consequent activation of the disaster recovery center and the re-routing of the communications decided after a meeting of the Crisis Management Team, thus allowing all participants to access the recovery system.

Immediately after the activation of the disaster recovery center, the Support and Recovery Teams activated the applications in the disaster recovery site and proceeded with the verification of the existence of information that resulted from the previous processing, as well as the accessibility to the services. After this the services were made available to the participants that they carried out testing activities using their terminals in their offices. These activities consisted of queries and data entry operations as well as information upload and download using the file transfer functions and real time messages of the STD system.

During the tests no critical issues were identified that could jeopardize the functioning of Euronext Securities Porto’s backup systems in a real disaster situation. This asserts the adequacy of the Business Continuity Plan of Euronext Securities Porto, as well as, of the disaster recovery data center.

All the activities executed according to a predefined test plan, which was thoroughly carried out. The testing was concluded with success, which was recognized by all internal and external participants.

This result reinforces once more the engagement of Euronext Securities Porto in satisfying international recommendations and good practices for Business Continuity, thus contributing to the mitigation of the risks associated with possible disasters. This achievement contributes to the continuity of the business and the safety and reliability of the market structures, strengthening the trust of the investors and the participants and benefiting, in the end, the whole Portuguese Financial Market.

SRD II regulation in the Norwegian market is about to be decided upon. Euronext Securities Oslo is in the process of developing services ensuring that issuers and intermediaries will be able to meet the requirements from the new regulation.

We will enhance the Issuer Portal (VIS) with all services needed for the issuers to be compliant with the new regulation. In cooperation with Euronext Corporate Services, Euronext Securities Oslo will offer shareholder analyses so that the issuer can interact with its shareholders, increase liquidity and expand their shareholder base. Investors will receive information about corporate actions through use of ISO messages and existing portals like the Investor Portal (VIP). Finally, Euronext Securities Oslo will enable communication with intermediaries through automated processes that will ensure an efficient flow of communication.

SRD II services from Euronext Securities Oslo

Euronext Securities Oslo is currently developing services and features for SRD II based on the following three pillars:

1. General Meeting Services
   
   Our General Meeting Services will be improved to secure that issuers and their intermediaries remain compliant with SRD II requirements.
2. Shareholder Identification Services
   
   Euronext Securities Oslo are currently developing ISO 20022 messages to support the issuers need for disclosure of their beneficial shareholders. Furthermore, we will offer functionality for the issuers to order shareholder identification by using the Issuer Portal (VIS). Shareholder Identification Services will be delivered in cooperation with Euronext Corporate Services.
3. Corporate Action
   
   Euronext Securities Oslo will provide services that ensure shareholders exercise of the shareholders rights by give the end investor information about all corporate actions in the VPS investor Portal (VIP) and by sending information to intermediaries in ISO messages.

SRDII regulation in Norway

A proposal for the implementation of SRD II was submitted for public consultation in November 2019. The consultation follows a previous consultation of January 2019. The comments received in the previous consultation has resulted in an amended proposal. The consultation addresses the implementation of the provisions in SRD II regarding the issuer’s right to identify its shareholders and the intermediaries’ obligations to transmit information regarding corporate actions from the issuer to the shareholders and to facilitate the shareholders’ exercise of shareholders rights.

The proposal also sets out significant amendments to the rules regarding the general meetings. The purpose of the amendments is to facilitate the participation of nominee registered shareholders. To this end it is proposed that nominee registered shareholders that intend to take part in the general meeting must notify the issuer three days before the date of the meeting. It is also proposed that the record date for shareholders- meeting shall be five days before the date of the meeting. Companies with shares admitted to trading on a regulated market must make public a list of the shareholders that attended the meeting.

Under the proposed rules Norwegian limited companies will be obligated to make public a list of all shareholder in the company, included nominee registered shareholders.This guide provides a detailed overview of why it helps to know shareholders and how your company can benefit from SRD II.

Under the proposal the rules in SRD II is made applicable for all Norwegian limited companies which allows nominee registered shareholders. The rules of the directive will therefore be applicable not only for companies with shares admitted to trading on a regulated market.

The consultation closed 6 January 2020. It is expected that a proposal will be presented to the Norwegian parliament in the first half of 2020 in order for the amended rules to be implemented within the implementation deadline of the SRD II in September 2020.

Euronext Securities Oslo will continue to monitor and engage in dialogue with clients and authorities on further implementations on SRD II, and will invite for a SRD II seminar late March. A separate invitation will be sent shortly.

The new Central Securities Depositories Act which implements the CSDR enters into force 1 January 2020.

The new Central Securities Depositories Act which implements the CSDR enters into force 1 January 2020. This means that Euronext Securities Oslo must apply for authorisation under CSDR within 30 June 2020. On the 20th December the Ministry of Finance adopted transitional provisions clarifying that Euronext Securities Oslo’ current authorization will remain in force and that the current Securities Register Act will continue to apply to our business and to account operators, settlement participants and holders of nominee accounts in Euronext Securities Oslo until the authorisation process is completed.

The Central Securities Depositories Act

The growth in number of investors has increased significantly the last year. On Oslo Stock Exchange alone we see an 18% increase in Norwegian private investors.

This year, Norwegian market places see a large increase in both new listings and number of new private investors. As many as 70.000 new private investors have this year chosen to invest on Oslo Stock Exchange. We are also seeing an increase in new investors on Merkur Markets, where at the end of September as many as 51.000 investors where registered, of which 83% are men.

Investing in ESG companies are very popular for both women and men in both market places. The ESG companies that attracted the most number of Norwegian investors are NEL ASA (OSE) and Aker Offshore Wind (Merkur).

Key figures from Merkur Market:

Average age on Merkur Markets for Norwegian private investors per September:

Women = 45.9 years (OB = 50.4 years)

Men = 45.5 years (OB = 53.3 years)

The number of Norwegian private investors per September:

Women = 8.863

Men = 42.451

Status September (third quarter) Norwegian private investors:

Women

Top 5 companies based on the number of unique investors:

• AKER OFFSHORE W

• AKER CARBON CAP

• KAHOOT! AS

• QUANTAFUEL ASA

• LIFECARE AS

Top 5 companies based on the most value on value on accounts:

• QUANTAFUEL ASA

• KAHOOT! AS

• AKER OFFSHORE W

• AKER CARBON CAP

• MERCELL HOLDING

Men

Top 5 companies based on the number of unique investors:

• AKER OFFSHORE W

• AKER CARBON CAP

• QUANTAFUEL ASA

• KAHOOT! AS

• LIFECARE AS

Top 5 companies based on the most value on value on accounts:

• QUANTAFUEL ASA

• KAHOOT! AS

• AKER OFFSHORE W

• AKER CARBON CAP

• ANDFJORD SALMON

Most popular stock

Aker offshore and Aker carbon are the most popular stocks based on number of private investors in all counties in Norway, as well as all age groups per September.

Aker Carbon:

Women: Allmost 60% of the female investors are between 30-54 years old. 15% are below 30 years of age.

Men: 53% of male investors are between 40-69 years old. 17% are below 20 years of age.

Aker Offshore:

Women: Allmost 60% of the female investors are between 30-54 years old. 13% are below 30 years of age.

Men: 52% of male investors are between 40-69 years old. 18% are below 20 years of age.

Most values

Looking at where women and men have the largest share of their values on Merkur Markets, QUANTAFUEL ASA comes out on top. If you look at the number of stocks, Lavo. TV AS has the biggest number of stocks amongst women, while Zenith Energy is the company with the biggest number of stocks amongst the men.

Play Magnus

In total, Play Magnus attracted 149 investors on the first day of trading;

• 33 of these are foreign investors

• 116 of these are Norwegian investors (102 organizations and 14 private individuals)

The 14 Norwegian private investors in Play Magnus are mainly men between the ages of 40-69, the majority of the new investors have their residential address in the county of Oslo.

The Norwegian retail activity has bursted during 2020, and Euronext Growth has now 60 000 retail investors

Euronext Growth (previously Merkur Market) started out the year by having approximately 10 400 retail investors. Overall, the year experienced double-digit growth figures during 7 of 11 months. August was the month with the strongest growth, where the number of investors more than doubled up to 44 000. By the end of November Euronext Growth had just under 60 000 retail investors which entailed a year to date growth of approximately 475%, compared to the 450 000 local retail investors on Oslo Børs Main Market that saw an increase of local investors by 18% by the end of October. The number of investors is expected to increase further in 2021, though not at the same pace.

2020 has also seen record numbers in listings on Euronext Growth, and 2020 is expected to end on 49 listings. Share savings accounts (ASK) for equities has increased by 46% and has now passed 560 000 accounts.

2020 has for sure been a special year for all of us, and it will be interesting to see what 2021 will bring.

Happy New Year to all of you, Euronext VPS wishes you all the best. See you in 2021!

Important information about 2021 tax reporting dates

Please see attached letter for the dates in question.

Companies operating in the financial sector are required by law to monitor and report on their employees’ personal trading activity. By using Tradelog, a web-based compliance tool developed by Euronext Securities Oslo, companies can automate the entire trading activity governance process, saving valuable time and resources, as DNB Markets has experienced.

The administrative aspect of monitoring employees’ personal trading activity can be time-consuming for financial institutions, a fact to which Hanne Leirbukt Pedersen, Chief Compliance Officer at DNB Markets, can attest. “It was an area that had become increasingly work intensive for DNB Markets in recent years,” she states. Part of the reason for this growing workload was the company’s largely manual application and approval process. “Prior to using Tradelog, we used a homegrown solution with a Microsoft Excel-based application form and a Microsoft Access-based follow-up form. This solution required a great deal of manual work, which is why we were looking for a system that could automate many of these manual tasks.”

Automation helps create a more efficient process

With Tradelog, DNB Markets has automated the entire trade monitoring process, which starts when an employee begins working in the company. “All DNB Markets’ employees are required to register their securities holdings in Tradelog when they start working for us,” Hanne Leirbukt Pedersen explains. When employees want to trade in certain financial instruments, they apply via Tradelog. The application and approval process are also handled in the system. Once an employee completes a trade, their account at Euronext Securities Oslo is automatically updated at settlement date to reflect their new holdings. All employees, regardless of their location or employment relationship, use the system. They can even manually register shares, which is necessary for shares in non-Norwegian companies and for employees who don’t have an account with Euronext Securities Oslo. 

TradeLog simplifies compliance tasks

DNB Markets’ Compliance function also uses Tradelog to evaluate employee applications for any potential conflicts of interest before approving a trade, and to follow up on any lock-in period violations. Hanne Leirbukt Pedersen also points to Tradelog’s reporting features as an added benefit for the department. “Tradelog makes it easier for our Compliance team to get an overview of the holdings of a single employee or group of employees, such as our research analysts. It’s also simpler for us to run reports to get an overview of all applications and registrations for a specific time period.”

Remote access benefits employees

The benefits of using Tradelog aren’t limited to the compliance side of DNB Markets’ organisation. “The system was well-received amongst employees,” comments Hanne Leirbukt Pedersen. “That’s primarily because employees feel the new system is simpler and more user-friendly than our previous one.” Tradelog also makes it easier for employees to access information about their own portfolio and trades, and to stay compliant even when they’re away from the office. “In the old solution, employees had to be logged on to DNB’s network in order to submit an application and report trades. In TradeLog, they can do these things from any network, including from a mobile phone. This makes it easier for employees to submit their applications and register trades, even when they’re on holiday or leave,” she explains.

Open collaboration a key success factor

According to Hanne Leirbukt Pedersen, the open dialogue DNB Markets has had with Euronext Securities Oslo about the system has been a contributing factor to the company’s successful system implementation. “Euronext Securities Oslo has improved the system several times during the time we’ve used it, in response to our input on improvements and new functionality. They’re always available and respond quickly if we have any questions or concerns about Tradelog.”

To find out more about Tradelog and other compliance and regulatory services, please contact Carl Johan Wiklund. 

Fact box: About Tradelog 

Tradelog is a web-based compliance tool and case management system offered by Euronext. Companies can use it to handle employees’ applications, approvals and inquiries related to their personal trading activity. It can be tailored to a company’s specific environment and incorporates all of the company’s regulations, internal policies and procedures governing employee trading activity. Read more about Tradelog here.

When the MV Razoni set sail from Odesa with 27,000 mt of corn on 1 August 2022, Ukraine's farmers hailed the reopening of their main export route. Now, with Russia's refusal to renew the Black Sea grain deal, they must rely again on trains, trucks and barges, which initially provided an emergency outlet immediately after Russia's invasion.

The immediate reaction to Russia's statement on 17 July was a surge in wheat and corn futures, with France's MATIF wheat contract trading at Eur237/mt by 11:00 GMT, having closed at Eur232/mt on 15 July, but that price move belied the pragmatic response of Ukrainian grain traders. Ukraine's exporters have been shifting their focus from the Black Sea to the Danube since April as Russia's intentions became clear.

The greater shock to Black Sea grain traders on 17 July resulted from the overnight attack on the bridge across the Kerch Strait, which forced Russia to suspend many of its own grain loading operations.

"Many have lost their hope [in the grain corridor]," a grain broker said about the Ukrainian market. "One medium size crusher in Ukraine who was shipping a Handysize to China via the corridor got a $1 million demurrage and detention bill," the broker added, referring to the costs that many exporters incurred due to time that their chartered ships spent waiting in the queue to enter the Black Sea ports.

The MV Razoni was the first ship to use the so-called grain corridor by which Russia and Ukraine agreed to provide safe passage through the Black Sea for ships carrying grain, foodstuffs and fertilisers. The revival of cross-border traffic by road, rail and river highlighted the shortcoming of the Black Sea Grain Initiative: exporters had to wait weeks for ships to be inspected, and there was a risk of Russia cancelling the agreement.

Not plain sailing

The agreement was signed by Russia, Turkey and Ukraine on 22 July 2022. It had a 120-day term that renewed automatically unless any signatory objected. Russia withdrew briefly prior to the expiry of the first term in November 2022 before renewing the agreement, but in March 2023 the country only gave its consent for a 60-day extension.

The last 60-day term expired on 17 July, with Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs citing a failure to reconnect its agricultural bank to the SWIFT system or restore access to its ammonia pipeline, among other issues. Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier described the deal as "one-way traffic."

Even on 17 July, Putin's spokesman told reporters that Russia would return to the deal if its demands were met. But it's unlikely that Ukraine's grain traders would have confidence in any deal that relies on Russian goodwill. Meanwhile, Russia's wish to resume ammonia exports from the Ukrainian port Pivdennyi seems impossible after the Tolyatti-Odessa pipeline was damaged on 5 June.

One trader of Ukrainian grain, underlining the ways in which Russia had been limiting Ukraine's Black Sea exports without withdrawing from the agreement, said the Russians "find any excuse not to clear a vessel...If you read the huge registration conditions, it's always possible to find a typo or argue that a paper/certificate is missing."

"It's as though you're pledging your vessel as security on a loan and not just checking it for weapons," another trader said, referring to the documentation and inspections process.

Ukraine's three Black Sea ports covered by the agreement shipped more than 20 million mt between October and March, but that flow slowed to a trickle. In the first 10 days of July, it was just 215,000 mt, UN data showed. The slowdown was due to the requirements of the UN-brokered agreement, which stated that every ship had to be inspected before and after it left Ukraine.

The inspection teams included representatives from all the signatories, and Ukraine said Russia's delegates deliberately limited the number of inspections conducted per day.

In March, the inspection teams were checking an average of six ships a day, but by June that had fallen to just two a day, according to the UN. Ukraine's Ministry for Restoration said this was because Russia has refused to register and inspect incoming ships. Average daily exports fell from 124,000 mt in February to 41,000 mt in May. Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment from S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Impatience with Russia's tactics has prompted some traders to call for more radical solutions.

"Our military would need to come up with a plan which does not include goodwill from the Russians," one of them said. "It is long due. ... I think something should be in the works," they added, echoing widespread hope among many of those whose grain export businesses were built around elevators and silos in the Black Sea ports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on 18 July that he had written to the UN and Turkey "with a proposal to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative in a trilateral format – as it is best." The original agreement laid the foundations for insurers to provide cover for ships visiting Ukraine's Black Sea ports. In the absence of a Russian pledge of protection, it could be hard to find cover.

Ukraine's export routes

Ukraine was the world's fourth-largest corn exporter and fifth-largest wheat exporter in marketing year 2021-22 (July to June), with 27 million mt and 19 million mt, respectively. In MY 2023-24, S&P Global expects Ukraine to export 10 million mt of wheat, currently mid-harvest, and 19.5 million mt of corn, which is harvested in autumn.

The crop cycle means that the demand on Ukraine's grain infrastructure is typically highest from August to December. In the two years prior to Russia's invasion, Ukraine exported more than 6 million mt/month for most of that that period.

The Ukrainian Grain Association estimates that at the time of Russia's invasion, Ukraine had around 1,200 inland silos providing storage capacity of around 66 million mt of grains.

The vast majority of that was exported through one of the three Black Sea ports or through Mykolaiv, a nearby river port that was excluded from the Black Sea Grain Initiative due to its proximity to the front line. Ukraine's ports have storage capacity of around 6 million mt, but almost all of that is at the Black Sea ports and Mykolaiv. Those four ports had a maximum potential capacity of 715,000 mt a day, whereas in 2022 the trucks, rail and barges couldn't handle more than 100,000 mt a day.

As the mechanisms of the Black Sea grain agreement have failed, exporters have turned to ports on the Danube. With the wheat harvest coming in, farmers in the Odesa region are sending their grain to the river ports of Reni and Izmail, rather than Odesa, a broker said, adding that they had seen a queue of 1,000 trucks heading in that direction.

This reverse flow represents a contortion of Ukraine's logistics, which evolved to support export hubs on the Black Sea. Exports from the Danube ports of Reni and Izmail were below 500,000 mt a month in 2021, but exporters are now hoping to boost that to 2 million mt.

There were around 30 berths in Izmail, according to one trader, who estimated the same quantity in Reni as well as around 10 in the port of Kiliya, which is farther downstream. In theory, that would mean that 70 coasters of barges could be loading simultaneously at Ukraine's Danube ports, but there are limitations due to the availability of pilots and tugs.

One company looking to the Danube is Kernel Holding, one of Ukraine's largest agribusiness holdings, with terminals in the Black Sea port of Chernomorsk that handled some 8 million mt in 2021.

Kernel is losing $5 million a month as a result of the dysfunction of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the company's CEO told Bloomberg on 7 July. Ievgen Osypov said Kernel had already lost $57 million and is now using alternative routes. In February, it bought a terminal at the port of Reni.

"The acquisition is part of Kernel's strategy to secure backup options in case the Black Sea ports become inaccessible as a result of the termination of the grain deal," Kernel wrote in its first quarter financial report.

Kernel's investment was backed by USAID, which said in March that Kernel and two other agriholdings companies, Nibulon and Grain Alliance, were making combined investments of $44 million. This would be used to renovate berths at Reni, expand Izmail and acquire a transshipment storage facility in Slovakia.

Nibulon's assets are concentrated in Mykolaiv, the only one of Ukraine's Black Sea ports that wasn't reopened as part of the Black Sea grain deal. The company has spent some $16 million on three loading ports in Izmail with a daily loading capacity of 9,000 mt.

Kernel, Nibulon and the other operators on the Danube have a choice of where to take their grain: they can either load coasters and take parcels of 3,000 mt–12,000 mt direct to customers – mainly in the Eastern Mediterranean – or they can load a series of 1,500 mt barges and take the grain to the Romanian port of Constanta. From there, they can put the grain onto bigger ships for more economical voyages.

The flow of Ukrainian grain down the Danube will put Ukraine's famers in direct competition with Romanians for the use of the 10 available elevators in Constanta, where it costs around $10/mt to unload the grain from a barge into a silo and then transfer it back onto a bigger boat. Some Ukrainian exporters instead opt to bypass the terminals and transfer the grain directly in the port from barges onto Handysize and Panamax ships.

Constanta had surplus capacity before it became a hub for Ukrainian grain, but the country's exemption from EU import tariffs became a sensitive political topic in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and the countries introduced a ban on imports from 2 May until 15 Sept. The ban still allows onward transit to other member states, and one trader said demand for rail wagons was strong in Italy.

Market conditions shift

In hindsight, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was remarkable: at the same time as Russia was firing missiles at Ukraine's infrastructure, it allowed the country to regain the main route for exports or agricultural commodities, which in the prewar economy represented some 40% of all exports. Whatever Russia's motives, the global pressure for a deal was overwhelming in summer 2022 as the agreement was being negotiated – wheat and corn prices had been at multiyear highs.

On 17 July, Platts assessed 12.5% protein Russian wheat at $229/mt for a 25,000 mt parcel to be shipped from Novorossiisk in the second half of August. That compares with a price of $451/mt on 13 March 2022 for wheat from the Romanian port of Constanta, when the EU was seen as the only reliable source in the Black Sea. The fall in corn prices has been similar.

Ukraine may have balked at the idea that it owes Russia anything, especially the facilitation of ammonia exports from a Ukrainian port. Russia may have inserted terms that it knew Ukraine could never satisfy. Neither side met its formal obligations. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described Russia's decision "as a blow to people in need everywhere."

Despite Guterres' appeal, the market impetus for a grain deal between Russia and Ukraine is now far weaker than a year ago. Silos in Brazil are overflowing as the country harvests a record corn crop, and global prices are now lower than they were prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Black Sea wheat prices are also at their lowest levels since 2020, after Russia's bumper wheat crop in 2022 boosted stocks. Meanwhile, Ukraine's grain exporters and their government are developing alternatives that don't require Russia's consent.

Written by William Bland, S&P Commodity insights

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How does green finance support ACCIONA’s sustainable strategy?

Currently, the climate emergency poses a major professional challenge to ACCIONA’s activities because, although the projects we develop are aimed at mitigating or adapting to climate change, our activities (such as the creation of wind farms or desalination plants) still produce greenhouse gas emissions. Achieving this decoupling between emissions and the growth of our activity requires a transformation of ACCIONA’s business model to implement, measure and report sustainability initiatives, policies and targets with the same discipline and thoroughness as the Group’s financial performance. As a result, as part of ACCIONA’s Sustainability Master Plan (SMP2025) created in 2021, the financial and sustainability departments of the Group have been integrated into a new Economic, Financial and Sustainability Affairs Department, headed by José Ángel Tejero as Chief Financial & Sustainability Officer (CFSO).

Following this line, ACCIONA’s financing strategy ensures it can provide the most economically efficient solutions while creating a positive impact on the environment and the local communities where it operates, directly contributing to the Sustainable Agenda. In this regard, green finance (bonds and loans) plays a key role in ACCIONA’s funding strategy.

Can you tell us about your experience in issuing green bonds?

Being a pioneer in this practice and taking into account the crucial role that green finance plays in ACCIONA’s sustainable strategy and its significant experience in the field, ACCIONA is recognised as a strong green issuer by its investors. This facilitates the ability of the Group to gather finance and develop its green projects. At the end of the first semester of 2022, 90% of the total amount of Euro Medium Term Notes (EMTNs) issued historically by ACCIONA had been classified as green. 

In relation to ACCIONA Energía, issuing green bond public benchmarks is the norm and thus, 100% of its placements are green Use of Proceeds bonds. It is worth mentioning that all three public transactions have been significantly oversubscribed.

To sum up, it can be said that we have observed that investors value not only the instrument and the specific Use of Proceeds, but also the nature of the issuer. In this regard, both ACCIONA and ACCIONA Energía are well recognised companies among ESG investors, mainly due to the historic and current attractiveness of the projects developed by the Group in economic, social and environmental terms.  

The figures and impacts related to all the green finance instruments issued by ACCIONA can be found in ACCIONA’s Sustainable Finance Report.

How has ACCIONA managed to steer away from greenwashing practices in the green bond market?

One of the primary challenges faced by sustainable finance is to demonstrate effectively its influence in the transformation of the economy. This is directly associated with the risk of greenwashing, where the true environmental impact of investments may be misrepresented. The existing regulations were established during a period when green investments were limited and standards were more lenient. However, as the urgency to invest in sustainable initiatives has grown, along with the expansion of the investment market, the requirements have become more stringent. Practices that were once tolerated are now considered unacceptable or, at the very least, less acceptable in the present context.

We have prioritised the adoption of the European taxonomy of sustainable activities as our central guiding principle since 2020. As a result, our investment requirements have consistently been aligned with its criteria right from the start. In 2022, ACCIONA allocated 98% of its eligible CAPEX to activities that are in line with the taxonomy.

In addition, through ACCIONA’s new Sustainable Impact Financing Framework, the Group has not only committed to create value to the environment through green and sustainable finance instruments but has created a new ‘Dual Impact’ structure. Under this Framework, ACCIONA may issue four types of sustainable financing instruments: two types of traditional financing instruments (Green Use of Proceeds and Sustainability-Linked financings) and those two same instruments enhanced with a Local Impact feature. The add-on Local Impact feature entails a commitment on the part of the issuer to invest in a particular Local Impact initiative.

This pioneering approach to green and sustainable finance is completely impact-oriented and strives to create additional value, primarily to local communities. The Sustainable Impact Financing Framework already includes some of the Local Impact Components defined, as well as the calibration methodologies used to establish the Local Impact targets. In addition, the Framework clearly states that failure to meet the Local Impact target will trigger a financial penalty directed at funding the delivery of the positive impact via a qualified third-party, ensuring that the local impact is ultimately carried out.

How is ACCIONA preparing for the evolving disclosure expectation and regulation requirements on ESG-related data? How do you see the evolution of the sustainable debt market?

In line with the first question, ACCIONA is elevating its non-financial reporting to the next level, aiming to reach the same levels of thoroughness and exhaustiveness as for the financial information. In order to achieve this, ACCIONA is increasing the number of indicators disclosed in the Sustainability Report 2022 that are being externally reviewed under reasonable assurance rather than on limited assurance, as this greater level of assurance increases the data reliability and robustness.

Additionally, to anticipate the needs of our investors and stakeholders, ACCIONA will be publishing its mandatory Principal Adverse Impacts table under the regulation of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) on its corporate website.

Regarding the sustainable debt market, ACCIONA feels that there is a need to increase transparency in order to avoid greenwashing and give confidence to its stakeholders, especially investors. To fill this information gap, in the previous exercise ACCIONA included new information on the Sustainable Finance Report 2022 to help investors track their investments, going one step beyond business as usual. Besides illustrating the consolidated impact of its portfolio and the total annual figures registered in relation with green and sustainable financing, ACCIONA has included in the report the allocation and impact information for all the different instruments issued individually. In this way, investors can track their contribution directly and see with their own eyes the impact that they are having on the planet and on the communities.