Ahren Lester

Articles by Ahren Lester

  • 'Transition is not a thematic of green - it is its own label'

    25 July 2025

    A growing consensus on defining the transition is driving the Transition Loan Principles closer to launch, Gemma Lawrence-Pardew tells Ahren Lester

  • 'Distinctive' Australian taxonomy opens door for 'excluded' sustainable bond issuers

    23 July 2025

    The Australian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy has brought a "distinctive" approach to hard-to-abate and green-enabling activities which could result in it becoming a global reference for issuers from transition sectors previously excluded from the sustainable bond market, Sustainable Fitch argues.

  • Vertis Infrastructure signs 'landmark' Indian infrastructure SLB

    23 July 2025

    Indian toll-road developer Vertis Infrastructure Trust has raised INR9 billion ($104 million) from a "landmark" sustainability-linked bond (SLB) backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

  • 'SLBs are interesting tactical investments - but not my cup of tea'

    23 July 2025

    Performance-focused sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) are interesting "tactical" investments from a return perspective but are not yet appealing from a sustainability standpoint, a senior fixed income investor argues.

  • 'Pure-play' sustainable loan taskforce targets 'simple, actionable' guidance

    22 July 2025

    Scoping work around a 'pure-play taskforce' to develop guidance for applying sustainable loan labels to dedicated 'green' and 'social' borrowers has already yielded "really interesting" debates, according to the Loan Market Association (LMA).

  • CABEI issues landmark Costa Rican social bond

    22 July 2025

    Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) has raised CRC71.5 billion ($140 million) from the first social bond issued in the Costa Rican capital market.

  • 'Warm' Japan transition bond reception could be warmer still, says AFII

    22 July 2025

    The increasingly "warm reception" for Japanese sovereign transition bonds is encouraging, but a think tank argues tackling the liquidity challenge and attracting international investors could be key to helping reverse the transactions' 'negative greenium'.

  • Chinese green bond and loan taxonomies unified in 'significant' update

    21 July 2025

    Chinese regulators have published a new 'green catalogue', which unifies the green bond and loan taxonomies and continues the process of reducing the fragmentation of the green debt market in the country.

  • Banks face 'static' issuer engagement on sustainable bonds as caution consolidates

    18 July 2025

    Sustainable bond markets have been facing issuer inertia as existing and new issuers reconsider the role of labelled instruments in their financing deals, according to a senior sustainable banker.

  • Thailand's future SLBs could address gender and biodiversity

    18 July 2025

    Gender and biodiversity could be integrated into the next phase of Thailand's ground-breaking sovereign SLBs, Karas Boonruang tells Ahren Lester