SARAH PERCY-DOVE, BLACKROCK: As an investor, I’d like to ask Terry: would you change a credit rating for the better if the green aspects were legally enforceable? TERRY FANOUS, MOODY’S: Thank you Sarah! Well, to the extent that our ratings measure the willingness and ability of the issuer to meet its debt obligations, then my answer would have to be no, because that doesn’t alter the key criteria that we consider in assigning ratings. If the Green aspect was to become an event of default then we

IFR ASIA: Welcome everyone. Terry, can you start us off with how important ESG – environmental, social and governance – criteria are in the capital markets. Why is it such an important topic to discuss? TERRY FANOUS, MOODY’S: From a ratings perspective, our primary objective is to assess the creditworthiness of the issuers that we rate. So in terms of ESG, we are particularly interested in the material climate-related risks and the way in which they impact on the creditworthiness of the issuer.

IFR Asia ESG Financing Roundtable 2017: Roundtable participants   Sandeep Bagla Trust Group Sandeep Bagla is Associate Director at Trust Group, one of India’s top corporate bond underwriters, where he is responsible for developing the foreign investor franchise and managing market risk. He joined Trust in 2014 after six years at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership, and has earlier worked as a mutual fund manager overseeing Indian fixed-income portfolios. Bagla has a BSc in economics from Preside

Environmental, social and governance factors are becoming ever more important in investment decisions. Whether fund managers worry about climate change or simply want to protect the long-term value of their portfolio, sustainability is now high on the agenda. The rapid growth of the Green bond market is the most visible sign that this mindset shift is transforming the capital markets, as both investors and issuers see value in labelling their securities. Global issuance is on track to hit US$80b