Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance has been named Law Firm of the Year at the Environmental Finance Bond Awards 2023. The firm has been recognised for long and sustained history advising on the most innovative and cutting-edge transactions. Over the past year, we continued to advise managers and issuers across a range of green, social, sustainable, and sustainability-linked bonds. While we have advised again on numerous ESG bonds, of particular note is our work with debut ESG issuers and first-time issuances in new regions and sectors, blended finance transactions for sovereigns and new financing structures.

Debt Capital Markets partner Kate Vyvyan said “We are delighted to have been recognised with this prestigious award for our sustainable bond work. Our ESG practice is truly global and it is fantastic that the work of the whole team has been recognised with this award. We are particularly pleased that our strong leadership in the market and contribution to the development of regulation, as well as our innovative transactions, have been highlighted.”

Our extensive experience working at the forefront of developments across green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds differentiates us. In 2022 Bloomberg ranked Clifford Chance as the number one legal adviser to managers on sustainable bonds in Europe, as ranked by volume. We are recognised as a market-leading adviser in ESG, advising clients ranging from banks and corporates to sovereign states. We hold the distinction of having worked on the first sovereign green bond (Republic of Poland), first blue bond (Republic of Seychelles), first social bond (Republic of Ecuador) as well as advising HM Treasury on the UK government's inaugural green gilt issue.

One of the Environmental Finance Bond Awards judges commented that the firm showed, "strong leadership for the development of GSSS bond market," and was "engaged in many landmark deals" as well as "contributing to more transparent market regulation".

We were ranked Band 1 for ESG Risk in Chambers Global-wide Crisis and Risk Management Guide 2022, which demonstrates our wider role in supporting the development of the ESG bond market, through active engagement on bond issues, blended finance transactions and in industry working groups.

Some of our highlight work encompassing across green, social and sustainable bond issuance includes advising:

• Nordea on its issuance of NOK 4.1 billion bonds, the first of its kind to have proceeds earmarked exclusively to finance sustainability-linked loans.
• The Church Commissioners for England on their sustainability bond issuance.
• Credit Suisse and CIBC FirstCaribbean on an innovative debt for nature conversion transaction for Barbados, which included a secondary guarantee from The Nature Conservancy, as well as having important underlying marine conservation objectives, the financing benefited from both climate (including hurricane) and pandemic related debt deferral protections. The financing also benefited from both climate and pandemic-related debt deferral protections. The deal was awarded 'highly commended, sustainability-linked bond of the year: Blue Bond for Ocean Conservation for Barbados'.
  
• The ground-breaking Orange Bonds, advising the Placement Agents on the Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)’s US$50 million bond offering under its Women’s Livelihood Bond™ (WLB) Series, which marks the world’s first sustainable debt security in the market issued in compliance with the Orange Bond Principles™ and the first multi-continent bond in the Series.