Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Bonds definition

What does Bonds mean? Bonds are tradable debt securities that record an issuer’s promise to repay principal at maturity and pay interest (a fixed or floating coupon) to investors. They are used in legal practice to raise medium to long‑term finance for governments (UK gilts; Irish government bonds), corporates, banks and public bodies, typically documented by a trust deed or agency agreement and an offering document or prospectus. Key legal features include face value, coupon, maturity, transferability (usually in registered or global form through clearing systems), ranking (senior or subordinated), and whether the bond is secured or unsecured; covenants and events of default...

Green Bonds: Legal Structures, ICMA Principles, EU Taxonomy and EU Green Bond Standard, Assurance, Reporting, Indices and Exchanges, Market Trends, ‘Greenium’, Sustainability-Linked and Transition Bonds, Blockchain and Digital Issuance

Published by a LexisNexis Banking & Finance expert

Practice notes

What does this Practice Note cover?

Green bonds are a natural financing route for issuers with a funding or refinancing need for a green project. An issuer that plans to deploy the proceeds towards environmentally friendly programmes—for instance, lowering the carbon footprint or waste arising from day‑to‑day business—can access the market and also demonstrate its commitment to sustainability. Green bonds can appeal to both issuers and investors when the ecological objectives and commercial considerations are properly balanced. This Practice Note covers:

What are green bonds?
Types of green bonds
Green Bond Principles
Assurance
How green is green?
Market developments
Next frontier and trends

For the latest news and key developments in sustainable finance (including green bonds), see Practice Notes: Sustainable finance—recent news and Sustainable finance and ESG—timeline.

What are green bonds?

Green bonds are debt issuances in which the proceeds are ring‑fenced and used exclusively to finance or re‑finance, in whole or in part, new and/or existing projects that further environmentally sustainable activities. They have traditionally been issued by multilateral lenders such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank. However, many...

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Jacqueline Heng

Addleshaw Goddard

Jacqueline Heng is a capital markets lawyer based in London, who is qualified in England, New York and Ireland.Jacqueline is recognised as a Next Generation Partner for Debt Capital Markets by Legal 500, and a “Notable Practitioner” in the IFLR 1000 Rankings. She has also been awarded 'Rising Star for Capital Markets' and 'Rising Star UK' at the inaugural Euromoney LMG Awards.Jacqueline advises on Regulation S offerings outside of the United States, as well as Rule 144A offerings into the United States, and on both publicly listed and privately placed deals.For over a decade, she has advised investment banks, DFIs, sovereign and quasi-sovereign issuers and corporate clients across a broad spectrum of industries including financial services, energy, manufacturing, mining and natural resources, transport and TMT.Jacqueline has worked on various debt securities offerings (including corporate bonds, green bonds, sovereign bonds,...

Web page updated on 28/05/2026

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