Royal Bank of Canada issues inaugural Green Bond

TORONTO, April 24, 2019 /CNW/ - Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) announced today its inaugural EUR500 million 5-year Green Bond offering. The money raised will fund a portfolio of new and existing assets primarily in the categories of renewable energy and green buildings. Other eligible categories for the allocation of Green Bond proceeds include: clean transportation, sustainable water and wastewater management, environmentally sustainable management of living natural resources and land use, energy efficiency, and pollution prevention and control.

RBC's Green Bond Framework is in line with the ICMA Green Bond Principles and has been reviewed by Sustainalytics, a leading independent global provider of environmental, social and governance research and ratings and an expert in the green bond market.

While RBC is a leading underwriter of Green Bonds with best-in-class execution capabilities across multiple currencies and geographies - this will be the first issuance of a Green Bond by RBC. According to David Power, Vice-President, Corporate Treasury, RBC, "The issuance of Green Bonds will further diversify our funding sources and satisfy the needs of investors that have green mandates."

RBC has a history of environmental leadership, dating back to 1991 when we launched our first corporate environmental policy. In 2017, we published our Climate Change Position & Disclosure Statement outlining the steps we are taking to manage climate risks and opportunities, as well as our ongoing commitment to climate-related disclosures. Our enterprise wide approach to climate change focuses on accelerating clean economic growth and supporting our clients in the low-carbon transition with our products, services and advice.

"RBC is a purpose-driven organization, and how we act is just as important as what we achieve," said Valerie Chort, Vice-President, Corporate Citizenship, RBC. "Our participation in the green bond market helps RBC deliver on our coordinated, enterprise-wide approach to accelerate clean economic growth and transition to environmental sustainability. We are proud to be delivering environmentally and socially responsible options to our clients."

"We are proud to finance environmentally responsible businesses and projects that promote the transition to a more efficient and sustainable lower-carbon economy," said Patti Shugart, Managing Director and Global Head, Corporate Banking and Global Credit, RBC Capital Markets.

About Green Bonds
Since their introduction in 2007, Green Bonds have become mainstream in the financial community with the annual issuance of Green Bonds reaching $167 billion in 2018, according to the Climate Bonds Initiative.

About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 84,000+ employees who bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 16 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 33 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-sustainability.

Disclaimer
This press release does not constitute or form part of and should not be construed as, an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or acquire Green Bonds of Royal Bank of Canada in any jurisdiction, including the United States, or an inducement to enter into investment activity. No part of this press release, nor the fact of its distribution, should form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract or commitment or investment decision whatsoever. The distribution of this press release and of the information it contains may be subject to legal restrictions in some countries.

Persons who might come into possession of it must inquire as to the existence of such restrictions and comply with them. This is not a prospectus under the Prospectus Directive (Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended or superseded) and investors in the European Economic Area should not subscribe for or purchase Green Bonds except on the basis of information in the Notes Base Prospectus of Royal Bank of Canada dated September 24, 2018 (the "Base Prospectus") as supplemented from time to time. The Base Prospectus and any supplements thereto are available on the website of the Regulatory News Service operated by the London Stock Exchange at http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-home.html under the name of Royal Bank of Canada and the headline "Publication of Prospectus".

This press release is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) to investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (iii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). The Green Bonds are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such Green Bonds will be engaged in only with, Relevant Persons. Any person who is not a Relevant Person should not act or rely on this press release or any of its contents. This press release is intended to provide non-exhaustive, general information.

Manufacturer target market (MiFID II product governance) is eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all distribution channels). No PRIIPs key information document (KID) has been prepared as not available to retail in European Economic Area.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, including the "safe harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "foresee", "forecast", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "goal", "plan" and "project" and similar expressions of future or conditional verbs such as "will", "may", "should", "could" or "would".

By their very nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, which give rise to the possibility that our predictions, forecasts, projections, expectations or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, or that our assumptions may not be correct. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of risk factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risks– many of which are beyond our control and the effects of which can be difficult to predict – include the risk that the businesses and projects funded with the proceeds from Green bonds will not meet our Green Bond Framework or an investor's expectations or requirements, whether as to green impact or outcome or otherwise; and the risk that we may not be able to allocate the proceeds of Green bonds to finance eligible businesses and projects; We caution that the foregoing list of risk factors is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect our results.

When relying on our forward looking statements to make decisions with respect to us, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Except as required by law, we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf. Additional information about these and other factors can be found in the risk section of the Base Prospectus, as supplemented from time to time, the risk sections of our 2018 Annual Report and the Risk management section of our Q1 2019 Report to Shareholders.

Information contained in or otherwise accessible through the websites mentioned does not form part of this press release. All references in this press release to websites are inactive textual references and are for your information only.

SOURCE Royal Bank of Canada

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