- Use of Proceeds Designed to Advance Racial and Gender
Equality, Economic Opportunity and Environmental
Sustainability
- This is Bank of America's Tenth ESG-themed Bond, Raising
Nearly $14 Billion in Aggregate,
Demonstrating Continued Commitment to Advancing the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 10,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America announced today
the issuance of its third Equality Progress Sustainability Bond
(EPSB) for $2 billion. The use of
proceeds from the bond offering is designed to advance racial and
gender equality, economic opportunity and environmental
sustainability.
This transaction marks the second offering following the
publication of Bank of America's ESG-themed Issuance Framework last
year, aligning to company's leadership in sustainable finance and
goal of mobilizing and scaling capital deployment to help advance
the UN SDGs.
The "Equality Progress" label is outlined in the Framework and
is designed to advance equality and economic opportunity for
historically marginalized populations by focusing on financing and
investments that provide people of color or women with expanded
access to essential services, such as affordable housing, and
business capital.
Bank of America will allocate at least 50% of an amount equal to
the net proceeds from the sale of the bond to one or more eligible
Equality Progress Social Assets, with the remainder allocated to
eligible Green Assets (together "Eligible Assets").
"Fueled by the success of the first and second Equality Progress
Sustainability Bonds, this bond demonstrates how the financial
community can find ways to create meaningful impact in the lives of
individuals and further socioeconomic empowerment for underserved
populations," said Paul Donofrio,
Vice Chair at Bank of America.
This issuance expands upon Bank of America's first Equality
Progress Sustainability Bond, which was issued in 2020 and the
first sustainability bond issued by a U.S. bank holding company
where the social portion of the use of proceeds was dedicated to
the financial empowerment of Black and Hispanic-Latino communities.
The second Equality Progress Sustainability Bond was issued in
2021, which broadened the scope of the target populations for
eligible Equality Progress Social Assets to include women and Asian
American, Pacific Islander and Indigenous people, along with Black
and Hispanic-Latino populations.
"The issuance of our third Equality Progress Sustainability Bond
demonstrates our commitment and consistent approach
to financing and investing for environmental and social
sustainability. We are very encouraged by the enthusiastic response
from the global investor community toward our issuance framework
and anticipate this will pave the way for sustainability
investments that help advance racial and gender equity
and the environmental transition to become more mainstream," said
Karen Fang, Global Head of
Sustainable Finance at Bank of America.
The six-year bond, which is callable in five years, will pay
interest semi-annually at a fixed rate of 6.204% for the first five
years, and quarterly at a floating rate thereafter. BofA Securities
was the sole bookrunner on the deal and six minority- or
women-owned broker dealers served as joint-lead managers – Academy
Securities, Blaylock Van, Loop
Capital, R. Seelaus & Co, Ramirez & Co and Siebert Williams Shank.
Within one year of the issuance of this Equality Progress
Sustainability Bond, Bank of America will publish a report related
to the use of proceeds of the bond on the company's ESG-Themed
Issuance webpage, located on the Bank of America Investor Relations
website. The information in the report regarding allocation to
Eligible Assets will be updated at least annually as long as the
bond remains outstanding.
Bank of America is the #1 US corporate issuer of ESG bonds
having issued $13.85 billion across
five green, two social and three sustainability bond issuances,
which focused on areas such as clean energy, energy efficiency,
affordable housing and community development, and addressing the
global coronavirus pandemic. More than a decade ago, Bank of
America co-authored the original Green Bond Principles, a voluntary
set of guidelines and standards meant to bring integrity to this
market where proceeds help to directly finance environmental
projects. Bank of America has also been a member of the executive
committee of the industry group that provides guidance on
ESG-themed bond issuances since its inception.
Bank of America has set tangible sustainable finance goals and
made measurable progress in mobilizing and scaling capital
deployment to help drive social and environmental change aligned
with the UN SDGs. As part of the company's commitment to mobilize
and deploy $1.5 trillion in
sustainable finance by 2030, approximately $250 billion of capital was mobilized and
deployed in 2021.
In addition, BofA Securities has helped clients across all
sectors support their sustainable business needs by raising in
excess of $500 billion in
principal amount through more than 700 ESG-themed bond
offerings.
To learn more about Bank of America's ESG-themed issuances or to
view past financed projects, please visit Bank of America's
Investor Relations website. Learn more about Bank of America's ESG
efforts at about.bankofamerica.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute
"forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements represent the current expectations, plans or forecasts
of Bank of America based on available information. Forward-looking
statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate
strictly to historical or current facts. These statements often use
words like "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates,"
"targets," "intends," "plans," "predict," "goal" and other similar
expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "may,"
"might," "should," "would" and "could." Forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date they are made, and Bank of America
undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to
reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the
date the forward-looking statement was made.
Forward-looking statements represent Bank of America's current
expectations, plans or forecasts of its future results, revenues,
expenses, efficiency ratio, capital measures, and future business
and economic conditions more generally, and other future matters,
including possible issuances of green, social or sustainability
securities and other statements about future events and
expectations, including with respect to Bank of America's ESG
strategy and its sustainable finance goal of $1.5 trillion by 2030. These statements are not
guarantees of its future results or performance and involve certain
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are
difficult to predict and are often beyond Bank of America's
control. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from
those expressed in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements.
Future events or circumstances may change Bank of America's
approach to possible green, social or sustainability securities
issuances or result in changes to the ESG-themed Issuance Framework
or Bank of America's sustainability strategy and commitments
generally. You should not place undue reliance on any
forward-looking statement and should consider all of the
uncertainties and risks discussed under Item 1A. "Risk Factors" of
Bank of America's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2021 and in any of Bank
of America's other subsequent Securities and Exchange Commission
filings.
Bank of America
At Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), we're guided by a common purpose
to help make financial lives better, through the power of every
connection. We're delivering on this through responsible growth
with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG)
leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and
reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and
credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for,
invest in and do business with. It's demonstrated in the inclusive
and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the
responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the
impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive.
An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with
nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and
environmental organizations, to bring together our collective
networks and expertise to achieve greater impact.
For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements
and other important information, visit the Bank of America
newsroom and register for news email alerts.
Reporters may contact:
Sheryl Lee, Global Markets, Sustainable Finance
and ESG Media, Bank of America
Phone: 1.657.234.9950
Sheryl.Lee2@bofa.com
Investors may contact:
Jonathan Blum, Bank of America (Fixed
Income)
Phone: 1.212.449.3112
jonathan.blum@bofa.com
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SOURCE Bank of America Corporation