Citi Announces $2.5 Billion Bond for Supporting Affordable Housing
A Brief Summary
The recent announcement by the Citi group with the issuance of a $2.5 billion bond helps low and moderate-income populations in the U.S. when it comes to construction, rehabilitation and preservation of quality affordable housing.
Read Full Article Below
Citi said that it worked with five other companies exclusively to make this issuance possible, including Blaylock Van, CastleOak Securities, Global Oak Capital Markets, Loop Capital Markets and Security Capital Brokerage, for underwriting and distributing the bonds to investors.
Michael Verdeschi, Treasurer of Citi, said: “This bond issuance is a win-win for Citi. Through our partnership with these minority-owned firms, we further enhance our best-in-class capital market distribution capabilities, while also financing affordable housing projects.”
The issuance comes after Citi announced in November that it had invested $1 billion in strategic initiatives aimed at closing the racial wealth gap and increasing economic mobility in the United States in the first year of its three-year commitment under its Action for Racial Equity initiative, putting the bank on track to far exceed its initial $1.1 billion target. One of the initiative's main aims is to set aside $550 million to help people of colour buy homes and minority developers build affordable housing.
Citi said in April that it will commit to deploying $1 trillion in sustainable financing by 2030, with $500 billion set aside to support SDGs such as education, affordable housing, health care, economic inclusion, community finance, and international development finance.
Mark Mason, Chief Financial Officer of Citi, said: “Safe and affordable housing is an important platform for financial stability and economic mobility, yet it is scarce and too expensive in many urban areas across the country. Citi has been the #1 affordable housing development lender in the U.S. for the past 11 years and this bond issuance is reflective of our commitment to increase the availability of affordable housing units within the communities we live and work. Dr. King had a tremendous influence on the passage of the Fair Housing Act and I’m proud that Citi continues to leverage our business capabilities to help achieve equity in the housing market.”
