In the last year, Clifford Chance advised Sri Lanka on the world's first sovereign governance-linked securities, helping in the creation of a framework through which financial terms are directly tied to governance reform milestones.

It also supported Togo and the Republic of Ecuador on sustainable financings backed by international institutions (and benefitting from partial credit guarantees from the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), respectively).

The firm also pointed to its work in Europe, which included advising on Electrica's €500 million ($584.2 million) green bond (the first such corporate issuance in Romania) and on Slovenia's €1 billion sustainability-linked bond (SLB), the first European sovereign SLB.

It also supported the Nordic Investment Bank on its first sustainability-linked loan-linked bond and advised TVO on a €500 million green bond under the EU Green Bond Standard, the first such issue dedicated to nuclear power.

Clifford Chance said that it felt these transactions reflected its ability to support issuers in navigating new regulatory environments, including taxonomy-aligned frameworks, European Green Bond Standard disclosures, and maturing SLB expectations.