The Saudi National Bank has successfully issued a new USD 850 million senior unsecured sukuk issuance under its Sustainable Finance Framework, marking its second public ESG labeled issuance following its inaugural offering in 2022. This issuance demonstrates SNB's commitment to becoming a regional financial powerhouse that contributes to the Kingdom's sustainability goals.

SNB achieved a highly successful transaction in terms of price and exceeded its objectives in terms of issue size. Orders peaked at USD 4.1 billion, representing an oversubscription rate of 4.8x. This exceptional interest allowed SNB to price its issuance at a very tight spread and increase the issuance size, where final pricing was set at the tightest spread level on a public offering from a Saudi Bank since SNB’s last issuance in January 2022.

Beyond the exceptional achievement on the economic metrics of this trade, the highly diversified final allocation of the issuance, which was placed approximately 60% to global non-MENA investors, serves as testament to SNB’s rigorous efforts on engaging with a broad set of top tier international investors, and the strong appeal of the bank’s credit to the global investor community. In the build up to the issuance, SNB met with more than 20 different accounts, including dedicated ESG funds. “The outcome of this trade is consistent with the bank’s on-going efforts to diversify its funding mix, supporting and aligning with the broader national targets of 2030. We are very pleased that SNB continues to draw extensive interest from international investors, driven by the bank’s persistent efforts on investor engagement, and on the back of the bank’s sustainable financing framework, which has given us the opportunity to communicate on activities that contribute to the important national initiatives, aiming to positively impact the environment and community we operate in.” said Fawaz Al-Thumairi, Senior Executive Vice President - Head of Treasury Business Group at SNB.

SNB’s Sustainable Finance Framework consists of four main pillars, targeting areas such as sustainable financing, environment, individuals and communities, as well as promoting ethical governance. The framework also provides a view of some of the key lending programmes undertaken by SNB to support Saudi Arabia’s broader development agenda through the Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative (“SGI”).

SNB has separately obtained a second party opinion from S&P Global Ratings on the framework’s alignment with the International Capital Market Association (“ICMA”) and Loan Market Association (“LMA”) guidelines.

Saudi National Bank was formed in April 2021 following the merger of the National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group. SNB is the largest financial institution in Saudi Arabia in terms of total assets, and is listed on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange. SNB plays a vital role in supporting economic transformation in Saudi Arabia by transforming the local banking sector and catalyzing the delivery of Saudi Arabia’s government programmes that support society, the environment and the economy.”