![]() The law's intention is not to prevent rating agencies from considering environmental factors in their credit analysis, but rather to prevent any future attempt to map a separate ESG score into the overall creditworthiness of an issuer, supporters of the bill say.ĭeSantis said the rating agencies, which he noted are paid by Florida and its local entities when they apply for a rating, have been creating their own ESG scores in addition to their credit analysis. "We are holding them to their word, so that ESG scores do not in the future creep into directly impacting issuer credit ratings." "When the rating agencies developed and rolled out their ESG scores, they said their ESG scores would not impact an issuer's credit rating," he said. Issuers should not be spending money on marketing gimmicks in selling their bonds," he said. "Also, since there is no pricing benefit from labeled bonds, issuers cannot spend public funds on verifiers since there is no tangible benefit from selling ESG-labeled bonds. "In the debt world, this means muni bonds cannot be labeled or designated as ESG bonds, green bonds or social bonds," Watkins told The Bond Buyer. ![]() ![]() ![]() Ben Watkins, director of the state Division of Bond Finance, said the law establishes policies and guardrails regarding what is acceptable in investment decision-making and debt issuance and excludes social, political and ideological considerations. ![]()
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