Morgan & Morgan advised Corporación Interamericana Para El Financiamiento de Infraestructura, S.A. (“CIFI”), as issuer, in the issuance and sale of green bonds through the Latin American Stock Exchange (“Latinex”) for an amount of US$10,000,000, which is the first issuance ever of a security of a private company carried out through the iLink (International Link) platform of Central Latinoamericana de Valores, S.A. (“Latinclear”) and Euroclear Bank, S.A. (“Euroclear”). Securities issued through iLink are truly internationalized because they are ‘euroclearable’, that is, available through Euroclear’s ecosystem and, as such, may be acquired by the clients of Euroclear in more than 120 countries.
Latinclear established iLink with Euroclear in 2014 and has been developed in three phases. The first phase permitted the issuance through iLink of securities issued by the Panamanian government and quasi-government entities and is active since April 2014. The implementation of the second phase, which became active on February of this year and allows for the issuance through iLink of debt securities issued by privately owned Panamanian corporations, is the result of a decade long effort of the capital markets sector, lead by Latinex, and this issuance of CIFI’s green bonds is the first successful one of phase two. The third phase of the project will permit the issuance of equities and other variable income securities.
The green bonds were purchased by CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean – and are secured by a collateral trust constituted between CIFI, as grantor, and MMG Bank Corporation, as trustee. Affiliate companies of CIFI act as guarantors and granted corporate guarantees in favour of the trust to secure the obligations of CIFI under the green bonds. MMG Bank Corporation also acted as arranger, broker dealer and placement agent of the green bonds.
Partner Ricardo Arias, and associates Ariana Linares and Katia Pallares, participated in this transaction.