FAB Raises $272.3M With Digital Green Bond on Euroclear Platform
First Abu Dhabi Bank priced the three-year notes at 5.75%, settled them through Euroclear's D-FMI, and listed them on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange.
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
First Abu Dhabi Bank has sold a three-year digitally native green note worth $272.3 million, or AED 1 billion, and settled it through Euroclear's Digital Financial Market Infrastructure, known as D-FMI. It is the first green bond from the MENA region to be structured as a digital instrument.
The notes were priced on 13 October with a coupon of 5.75%, settled on Thursday, and mature on 15 October 2029. Proceeds go to projects with environmental or climate-related benefits, which puts sustainable finance and digital market infrastructure inside a single transaction.
A second digital listing on ADX
This is FAB's second digital bond listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, after its first such issue in 2025. No other issuer has digital bonds listed on the exchange.
FAB and Standard Chartered Bank structured the notes. Emirates NBD Bank, FAB, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) and Standard Chartered Bank acted as joint lead managers.
The issue links two strands of the bank's strategy that it has run in parallel: a sustainable finance programme measured against a 2030 target, and a digital bond programme that moves through the region's exchange and Euroclear's settlement platform.
Blue economy financing
The bank is widening its blue financing work around water security and sustainable development. In September it set a $27.2 billion (AED 100 billion) blue finance target covering water and blue economy-related financing from 2026 to 2035, part of a broader sustainable financing commitment. In June it partnered with Water.org and WaterEquity, that organisation's affiliated impact investment manager, to invest in expanding access to safe water and sanitation in emerging markets.
Progress against the 2030 target
As of the first half of 2026, FAB had facilitated $107.6 billion (AED 395 billion) in sustainable and transition financing. That equals 79% of its $136 billion (AED 500 billion) goal for 2030.
Lars Kramer, the group chief financial officer, said the transaction extends the 2025 debut and shows how digital infrastructure can advance sustainable finance through more automation and quicker execution. He described it as part of the bank's commitment to financing solutions that support a low-carbon transition and bolster the UAE's standing in financial innovation.
In a 2026 ranking of the region's 100 most valuable companies, FAB placed ninth. Group chief executive Hana Al Rostamani was 11th on a 2026 list of the region's 100 leading chief executives.
