The “Why or Why Not” of Sustainable Finance with SocGen

As the North American sustainable finance market continues to find its stride, Treasury teams are asked to evaluate the appropriateness of issuing loans and bonds with sustainable features (whether green, social, sustainable, or KPI-linked).  Sustainable finance has not yet become a “new normal”, but the market is changing fast, and with it, the need to understand what makes sense and what doesn’t, and what transactions or circumstances will create the right intersection of needs between issuers, lenders, issuers, and opinion providers.

Societe Generale will compare notes with NeuGroup members on the practical pointers and observations gathered from real transactions across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.  Topics will include:

• Best practices, principles, and requirements for an authentic expression of sustainability in financial instruments
• Empowering Treasury in decision-making around sustainable finance
• Decision-trees:  timing, sector, benchmarking, KPIs vs. UoP, external standards, etc.
• North American trends vs. other regions

NeuGroup formed the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Working Group in 2020 as a result of requests from members and the multiple D&I discussions appearing in individual peer group meetings. These informal working sessions provide an opportunity for interested members to share experiences on common topics, document best practices, and welcome outside experts to speak on current trends – including companies that are not yet NeuGroup members.

Working Group sessions are meant for interested participants from across the NeuGroup network and approved non-NeuGroup members. They are ad hoc cohorts that NeuGroup organizes when a critical “hot topic” has captured a wide range of members’ attention. Working Groups can meet just once, a handful of times, or become ongoing venues to discuss these cross-peer group issues. Recent examples include LIBOR transition, ESG, D&I, Treasury Management Systems, and others. These groups often include both subject matter experts, as well as members just wishing to learn, with the possibility of splitting the groups for more detailed discussions.