From left, Hiroko Yoneda, Editor-in-Charge, DealWatch, Refinitiv Japan; Kenichiro Abe General Manager of NYK’s Finance Group; Midori Yanase Manager of NYK’s Financial Strategy Development Team, Finance Group; Takashi Nakajima, Account Director, Refinitiv Japan, Refinitiv Japan *Face masks were removed immediately prior to the photo.*
NYK has been recognized as Sustainable Finance Issuer of the Year at the 2021 DealWatch Awards sponsored by DealWatch, an on-screen news service provided by Refinitiv Japan K.K. Receiving this award is a tremendous honor in the domain of Sustainable Finance. The award was given to the general manager of NYK’s Finance Group, Kenichiro Abe, on May 26 while attending the awards event at Refinitiv Japan.
The annual DealWatch awards have been active since 1995—each year to contribute to the growth and expansion of Japan-related capital markets. In fiscal 2021, awards were given in six categories: General, Corporate Bond, Local Government Bond, Non-Resident Yen Bond, Sustainable Finance, and Stock. The DealWatch editorial staff chooses the winners based on strict criteria, including proper pricing, price growth in the secondary market, contribution and innovation to the development of capital markets, and so on.
Acting as a trailblazer, in July 2021, NYK served as the first company to issue a transition bond within the Japanese domestic market. A transition bond is a bond in which the allocated money is used to fund projects contributing to NYK’s long-term transition strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Japanese shipping and logistics company received a bright evaluation due to the company having “achieved a procurement that had become a foundation and benchmark for future expansion of transition bonds.”
After issuing the first transition bond in Japan which was constructed to align with the environmental goals set by key component companies such as the International Maritime Organization and Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, the company seemed to soar.
As progress stays at the forefront of the industry’s minds, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) has called for examples of finance that conform to its basic guidelines and are deemed to have model qualities. With the long-term keeping the company at the edge of its seat, NYK took on the role of the first model example of the climate transition finance model projects.
