6 February 2020
IFFIm Vaccine Bond issuance named 2019 “Deal of the Year” by mtn-i
London, 6 February 2020 - IFFIm, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) and the Toronto-Dominion Bank have been awarded SRI “Deal of the Year” by news, data and analytics publisher mtn-i for a July 2019 Vaccine Bond issuance that raised funding to research and develop new vaccines.
The award was given in the SRI: Green/Social category for IFFIm’s July 2019 issuance that raised 600 million Norwegian krone (US$ 65 million) for CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. CEPI is a public private initiative that accelerates development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases and enables equitable access to these vaccines during outbreaks. These bonds provided immediate funding to combat diseases like MERS, Nipah virus and Lassa fever.
The transaction allowed Norway to accelerate its multi-year pledge to CEPI by leveraging IFFIm’s access to the capital markets. Norway is a donor to IFFIm, Gavi and CEPI.
“The recognition you're giving IFFIm today is a strong validation of the growth of socially responsible investing, which is aimed at solving difficult global development challenges,” said IFFIm board chair Cyrus Ardalan, who accepted the award on February 6 in London.
“This award represents the vital engagement of the private sector to support the research and development of vaccines that fight epidemics. The current outbreak of coronavirus reminds us of how critical this work is. In fact, CEPI has been supporting a number of companies and institutes around the world that are racing to produce a new coronavirus vaccine.”
The editors at mtn-i have been strong supporters of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for which IFFIm raises funds in the capital markets. mtn-i has organised charity auctions at past awards ceremonies to benefit Gavi, raising £20,000 (US$ 30,000).
Today’s award is the latest of a number of awards recognizing IFFIm. mtn-i named IFFIm SRI Innovation of the Decade in 2013, and IFFIm’s Sukuks, an Islamic certificate, and Japanese retail Uridashi have been cited by financial media as top-rated, award-winning transactions. Fitch Ratings, Moody's Investor Service and Standard & Poor's have rated IFFIm as AA/Aa1/AA. For 2019, IFFIm also received an A+ rating for efficiency, economy and effectiveness from the U.K.’s Department for International Development (DFID).