Inveztor at the ICMA AGM - Paris 2023

It’s fantastic to be here in Paris for the ICMA AGM. The Agenda is packed with sessions focused on Technology, Innovation and Sustainability. With that in mind we thought we would look backwards at the history of France within Capital Markets. It seems that Paris was a great choice of host city!

• The French state were the first in the world to issue a sovereign green bond in line with the ICMA standards. This is particularly topical given the recent announcement about the ICMA and the Lux Stock Exchange collaborating on publishing data around Green Bonds and the ICMA collaborating with ELFA on Practical Recommendations for High Yield Sustainability-Linked Bonds
• The large banks clearly see huge opportunity within the French market, BNY Mellon recently celebrated 60 years in France, and Citibank's Jane Fraser recently posted about the strength of foreign investment in France as part of her European tour
• The first sovereign bond ever issued had a link to France as well, although maybe we shouldn’t mention that given it was issued by the Bank of England in 1693 with the proceeds used to fund conflict with France

With all that history, it’s fantastic to see so much progress in the market as part of this AGM and wider conference:

• We are looking forward to hearing from Georgina Jarrett tomorrow morning on Technological Innovation in the global bond market, a topic close to our hearts and which we continue to accelerate through our collaboration with the ICMA
• The ICMA Women’s Network continues to push for equality across the industry and we look forward to attending their event later this evening. As a female founded, and predominantly female staffed company, this agenda is close to our hearts and we are excited to keep pushing this forwards
• As an Allen & Overy Fuse member, we are of course excited about Shruti Ajitsaria discussing everything Digital Assets on Friday
• And the panel discussion tomorrow morning on ICMA's activities, including Fintech and Digitisation will be a great start to the conference agenda

If you’re here at the AGM and conference and would like to catch up please do let us know!