On Thursday 6 April 2023, Environmental Finance unveiled the official list of winners at its Bond Awards 2023, which saw the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) win the title of Exchange of the Year for the sixth time.
This year, the judging panel noted LuxSE's trailblazing work in advancing gender finance and fostering sustainable finance in emerging markets as key areas that solidified the exchange's winning status.
“Last year, we focused our efforts on advancing gender finance and gender-lens investing, and on expanding our cooperation with exchanges and market participants in emerging markets to facilitate the creation of sustainable finance initiatives in new regions. Having our efforts and contribution recognised by Environmental Finance is extremely rewarding and motivates us further in our mission to help make sustainable finance truly global,” said CEO of LuxSE, Julie Becker
Advancing gender finance
In May 2022, LuxSE and UN Women signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their cooperation and work together to advance financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment knowing that supporting these important causes will ultimately benefit the overall economy and value creation worldwide.
The first step of this cooperation saw LuxSE add a dedicated gender-focused bond flag to all debt securities displayed on LGX which raise financing for projects advancing gender equality. Currently, nearly 50 social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds displayed on LGX carry the gender-focused bond flag. In this way, investors who wish to support projects that empower women and girls can easily identify investment products that contribute to this important goal.
Bringing sustainable finance to new regions
The panel of judges that awarded LuxSE this important recognition also noted its contribution to the development of sustainable finance in emerging markets. For a number of years, LuxSE has focused on establishing international cooperation with exchanges and market participants across different continents to advance the development of sustainable finance worldwide.
In 2022, LuxSE placed a strong focus on the emerging markets of Africa and signed 3 MoUs focused on developing sustainable finance initiatives with exchanges located in Cabo Verde, Rwanda and Western Africa. In terms of other emerging markets, LuxSE signed agreements on sustainable finance with Vietnam Exchange, as well as with Santiago Exchange, and furthermore strengthened its cooperation with India International Exchange to allow for dual listings of green bonds from Indian issuers.
In addition to its contribution to advancing gender finance and making sustainable finance truly global, through LGX, LuxSE is still the leading venue for the world’s listed green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds, currently encompassing more than 1,600 sustainable bonds from 270 issuers worldwide.
