Exchange Surpasses 100 Trillion Won in Socially Responsible Investment Bond Listings

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] The outstanding balance of SRI bonds listed in the Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) bond dedicated segment operated by the Korea Exchange (KRX) has surpassed 100 trillion won for the first time.

According to the exchange on the 6th, as of the 2nd, the outstanding balance of the SRI bond dedicated segment was 100.3 trillion won, marking approximately a 77-fold increase compared to 1.3 trillion won when SRI bonds were first listed in 2018.

It took 24 months to surpass 50 trillion won after the initial listing of SRI bonds, but it took only 11 months to reach 100 trillion won from 50 trillion won. In particular, the exchange achieved 100 trillion won in less than 10 months after opening the SRI bond dedicated segment on June 15 last year.

The number of institutions and issues listed for SRI bonds also increased significantly from 4 companies and 5 issues at the end of 2018 to 62 companies and 678 issues.

Compared to overseas exchanges, it showed rapid growth in a short period, ranking high in terms of outstanding balance and number of issues. The outstanding balance and number of issues were the highest among major Asian exchanges. The outstanding balances of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange were 40.5 trillion won and 32.5 trillion won, respectively, with 285 and 46 issues. Including Europe, Euronext Paris had the highest outstanding balance at 181.8 trillion won. As of March this year, a total of 35 exchanges operate dedicated SRI bond segments, including 14 in Europe, 9 in the Americas, 9 in Asia, and 1 in Africa.

An exchange official stated, "Socially responsible investment will expand further to build a sustainable future where the environment and society coexist after COVID-19," adding, "We will continue to strive to provide one-stop information related to SRI bonds."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.