BSEC, IFC sign co-op agreement

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) under the World Bank signed a cooperation agreement on the national sustainability bond guidelines at the commision’s Agargaon office in the capital on Thursday.

The agreement was signed after a bilateral meeting between BSEC and IFC, said a press release.

BSEC chairman Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam and Martin Holtmann, country manager (Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal) of IFC, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

Martin Holtmann said, “The national sustainability bond guidelines will help mobilise finance for the development of the blue and green economy in Bangladesh. IFC is committed to improving environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in the country. We are very fortunate to have the excellent cooperation of BSEC in this important effort.”

The meeting, among others, was also attended by BSEC Commissioner Shaikh Shamsuddin Ahmed and Operations Officer and ESG Advisory of IFC Lopa Rahman.

The agreement entails four visions which are: (1) of strenghtening the ESG regulatory and reporting framework of BSEC, elevation of the framework of stable bonds such as Blue, Green, and Pink bonds, and IFC’s involvement in corporate governance code revisions along with BSEC; (2) organising training programmes and sessions to develop the local market mediators; (3) developing corporate governance and due diligence among the financial institutions improving ESG; (4) companies under the IFCs portfolio will develop and real-sector buyers will face fewer obstacles with investing.

The cooperation agreement will develop Bangladesh’s labelled bond market through IFC and will promote the trade of sustainable bonds and train the culture of sustainability bond service providers. IFC will help BSEC to implement National Sustainability Bond Guidelines.