Morgan Stanley
For underwriting a range of sustainable debt financings and an equity deal over the awards period, Morgan Stanley wins Japan’s best bank for environmental, social and governance this year.
The bank has been notably active in deals for Japanese issuers of green and sustainability bonds. Transition bonds were an area of focus, with the bank acting as structuring agent in five such deals. These included issues by Japan-based global energy company Jera; the first transition-linked bond, issued by Eneos; and the first transition bond in the oil and gas sector, issued by Idemitsu Kosan.
Another example of a sustainable financing saw the bank provide financing to the startup Power X, which focuses on using storage batteries in renewable energy.
The bank was also lead underwriter on the IPO of Base Food, a startup looking to reduce food waste by using materials such as wheat and rice bran to generate nutritionally complete food products.