QNB Group, Qatar's largest bank, has issued its inaugural green bond — a EUR 750 million five-year instrument priced on 23 September 2025 under the bank's Sustainable Finance and Product Framework. The transaction sets a record as the largest Euro-denominated green bond ever issued by a bank headquartered in the Middle East, representing a significant milestone for sustainable capital markets in a region that has been steadily building its presence in the global ESG bond landscape.
The bond was listed on international exchanges following pricing and attracted substantial interest from sustainability-focused investors. Fifty-six per cent of the total allocation was directed to dedicated ESG and green investors, a proportion that reflects the depth of specialist demand that QNB's issuance was able to command. Proceeds will be used to finance or refinance eligible green project categories in accordance with the bank's Sustainable Finance and Product Framework, a governance structure that sets out the criteria for asset selection, proceeds management and investor reporting.
A RECORD TRANSACTION FOR MIDDLE EAST BANKING
The scale of the issuance places QNB alongside some of the most active sovereign and financial institutions in the global green bond market. For a bank operating primarily from Qatar — though with a footprint spanning 28 countries across the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and beyond — the ability to attract a predominantly ESG-oriented investor base for a EUR 750 million transaction demonstrates the international credibility that QNB has built in sustainable finance and the trust investors place in its disclosure and reporting frameworks.
QNB has positioned sustainability as a core institutional commitment rather than a peripheral activity, embedding it across its operations and client-facing products. The Sustainable Finance and Product Framework that underpins this bond provides the governance infrastructure necessary to satisfy the expectations of specialist ESG investors, who require robust use-of-proceeds ringfencing, transparent allocation reporting, and clear linkage between the financed assets and the bank's stated environmental objectives.
IRB Corporation BS Ltd had not published any public statement or formal response to the penalty or the factual findings underpinning it at the time the sanction was listed in the regulator's official database. Under Spanish banking law, the sanctioned entity retains the right to appeal through the administrative and judicial channels available to regulated institutions.
PROCEEDS, STRATEGY AND REGIONAL CONTEXT
Eligible green categories under QNB's framework include renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation and sustainable water management, among other environmentally beneficial activities. The bank has indicated that the proceeds from this transaction will reinforce its standing as a sustainability leader in Qatar and across the wider set of markets in which it operates, a position it intends to build upon through continued engagement with the sustainable finance market.
The transaction is expected to elevate the profile of the Qatari banking sector among international ESG capital market participants at a time when sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors are directing progressively larger allocations towards emerging market issuers with credible sustainability frameworks. For QNB, the inaugural green bond marks the beginning of what the bank has signalled will be a sustained and expanding programme of sustainable capital market activity.