永續金融之發展與治理──以社會責任債券為中心

Developments and Governance of Sustainable Finance: Centering upon Social Bonds

永續是現今社會最受關注的議題之一，永續金融也成為投資市場之熱門焦點。本文將探討永續債券中較少被關注的社會責任債券。所謂社會責任債券係指將債券所募集之資金，用於具有正面社會效益之投資計畫，除了資金用途有所限制之外，在我國其餘方面則與一般債券相同。本文首先將討論永續在金融上之定義；其後介紹在ICMA的社會責任債券原則下，合格的社會債券應符合哪些標準；第三，就各類永續金融商品之發展，最大的憂慮都是洗綠（Green Wash），此在社會責任債券上則稱為「偽造影響力」（Impact Wash）的問題。本文將分析國際上有那些監理措施可以減緩偽造影響力之風險；最後，除監理手段外，本文將討論在發行人履行其永續義務時，債券持有人是否有其他事前監督以及事後在不履行時之救濟方法。

Sustainability is nowadays one of the hot issues in the world, and sustainable finance has also become a focus in investment circle. This article will explore the less-attended social bonds amongst sustainable bonds. The so-called social bonds refer to the use of proceeds raised by bonds issued for investment projects with positive social purposes and benefits. Except for the restrictions on the use of proceeds, they are the same in all other aspects of corporate bonds in Taiwan. This article will first discuss the definition of sustainability in finance; then introduces what standards an eligible social bond should meet under ICMA’s Social Bond Principles; thirdly, the article will analyze greenwash, which is the biggest concern of all regarding the development of various sustainable financial products is also called ''impact wash'' in social bonds. This article will analyze the available international supervisory mechanisms that can mitigate the risk of impact wash. Finally, in addition to regulatory means, this article will discuss whether bondholders have other ex-ante supervision when the issuer performs its sustainability obligations and subsequent reliefs in case of issuer’s non-performance.