.jpg)
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today announced the listing of four outstanding benchmark bonds on Nasdaq Helsinki by Municipality Finance Plc (“MuniFin”) . The bonds are issued under MuniFin’s EUR 30 billion euro medium term note (“EMTN”) program. The listing of these bonds marks the first step in Munifin’s ambition to list all their new bonds under the program requiring listing on Nasdaq Helsinki. A euro medium term note is a medium-term, flexible debt instrument designed to make it easy for issuers to raise capital and enter foreign markets.
“We are pleased to use Nasdaq Helsinki for all our future bond listings. MuniFin is one of the most active bond issuers in Finland and we have a diversified and growing investor base around the globe. Nasdaq Helsinki is a well recognized stock exchange and a natural choice for us”, said Joakim Holmström, Head of Capital Markets at MuniFin.
MuniFin is one of Finland's largest credit institutions and the only one specialized in the financing and financial risk management of the Finnish public sector. MuniFin’s lending is offered exclusively to Finnish municipalities, their majority-owned companies, and non-profit housing companies.
“We are dedicated towards building a strong and dynamic Nordic financial market and are keen to partner with MuniFin in it”, said Henrik Husman, President of Nasdaq Helsinki. “Last year we launched a dedicated Sustainable Bond market in Finland, and MuniFin was the first issuer to list green bonds on Nasdaq Helsinki. MuniFin is a market leader and we are pleased with their decision to list additional bonds in Helsinki today. We look forward to developing a booming bond market in Finland and hope MuniFin’s decision will inspire other issuers to join the market. “
Last year, Nasdaq saw a strong growth for its Nordic Debt Market in the Nordic region, including the segments for Corporate Bonds and Sustainable Debt, as listed volumes for corporate bonds grew by 13 percent, and Nasdaq’s Sustainable Debt Market more than doubled in size. This development has continued into 2019. During the first quarter, close to 20% of the corporate and municipality bonds listed in Stockholm were green. Moreover, Nasdaq Copenhagen recently listed the first green covered bond in Denmark.
“MuniFin’s green bond listing last year attracted a lot of attention and we believe it contributed to a pipeline of prospective new green bond issuers in Finland. There is no doubt in our minds that the Finnish market will see more green bonds being issued in the coming years as the market is amongst the most mature in terms of sustainability and transparency,” said Ann-Charlotte Eliasson, Head of Nordic Fixed Income listings at Nasdaq.
