CDFI Roundtable – Now in Baton Rouge!

Jay OwenReforming Global Finance, Community Development Solutions

Serving the Underserved: Building Alternative Financial Services  in Low-Income Communities    When:  April 15, 2015 | 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Where: Westerfield Conference Center | 1800 S. Acadian Thruway  Baton Rouge, LA Cost:     $45 per person   The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, sponsored by …

SJF Ventures Publishes Impact Website; Validic Closes on Financing – SJF Ventures Bulletin

Jay OwenGreen Prosperity, SRI/ESG News

We are pleased to share SJF’s latest bulletin announcing the release of our new Impact website, which highlights our positive impacts. The bulletin also features our most recent investment in Validic; provides updates on portfolio companies; and recognizes another leading impact investor, Arjuna Capital.   Sincerely, The SJF Team SJF …

MIT issues green property bonds to refinance green buildings, $370m, 24 yr, 3.959% coupon, Aaae. We like!

Jay OwenSRI/ESG News

  MIT issues green property bonds to refinance green buildings, $370m, 24 yr, 3.959% coupon, Aaae. We like! I’ve been in Montreal today discussing the prospects for green property bonds and arguing it’s as much about re-financing as new projects. We want an owner of a green hotel chain to be …

Investor Statement re: Green Bonds & Climate Bonds

Jay OwenGreen Prosperity, SRI/ESG News

UN CLIMATE SUMMIT 23 SEPTEMBER 2014 We, the undersigned signatories to this statement, represent asset owners, investment managers and individual funds managing a combined Two Trillion Dollars of assets. We are substantial investors in the $100 trillion  global bond market. We understand: That climate change poses a significant risk to …

Rockefellers, Heirs to an Oil Fortune, Will Divest Charity of Fossil Fuels

Jay OwenGreen Prosperity, Reforming Global Finance, SRI/ESG News

Rockefellers, Heirs to an Oil Fortune, Will Divest Charity of Fossil Fuels Stephen Heintz, left, with Valerie Rockefeller Wayne and Steven Rockefeller on Tuesday. Hiroko Masuike / The New York Times ·        Share ·          ·          By JOHN SCHWARTZ September 21, 2014 John D. Rockefeller built a vast fortune on oil. …

[Blog] MünchenerHyp cracks first thematic covered bond! EUR300m ($389m) Aaa 5yr, for coop housing. 1.6x oversubscribed. It’s the prototype for a Green Pfandbrief – at last!

Jay OwenGreen Prosperity, Reforming Global Finance

  MünchenerHyp cracks first thematic covered bond! EUR300m ($389m) Aaa 5yr, for coop housing. 1.6x oversubscribed. It’s the prototype for a Green Pfandbrief – at last! Münchener Hypothekenbank eG has just issued an “ESG-labelled” covered bond (or Pfandbriefe, as covered bonds are called in Germany) for refinancing of housing cooperatives. Oekom …

Beyond Divestment: Climate-Concerned Philanthropists Pledge to Move Billions to Wind and Solar

Jay OwenGreen Prosperity, Trendspotting, Beyond GDP

Beyond Divestment: Climate-Concerned Philanthropists Pledge to Move Billions to Wind and Solar Thursday, 18 September 2014 12:48 By Chuck Collins, YES! Magazine | Report (Image: Wind energy via Shutterstock) This story is part of the Climate in Our Hands collaboration between Truthout and YES! Magazine. As the United Nations Climate …

World’s Leading Institutional Investors Managing $24 Trillion Call for Carbon Pricing, Ambitious Global Climate Deal

Jay OwenGreen Prosperity, Reforming Global Finance, SRI/ESG News, Beyond GDP

UNSG Climate Summit  2014 World’s Leading Institutional Investors Managing $24 Trillion Call for Carbon Pricing, Ambitious Global Climate Deal    BlackRock, CalPERS, PensionDanmark, Deutsche, South African GEPF, Australian CFSGAM, Cathay Financial Holdings among nearly 350 investors urging heads of state to take strong action on climate change   For more …

Preparing To Asset-strip Local Government? The Fed’s Bizarre New Rules

Jay OwenReforming Global Finance, SRI/ESG News

In an inscrutable move that has alarmed state treasurers, the Federal Reserve, along with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, just changed the liquidity requirements for the nation’s largest banks. Municipal bonds, long considered safe liquid investments, have been eliminated from the …

Better Markets: Wall Street’s too-big-to-fail banks

Jay OwenReforming Global Finance

Why do almost all companies finance themselves mostly with equity, but Wall Street’s too-big-to-fail banks finance themselves almost 100 percent with borrowed money (debt), making them very unstable and at high risk of failure even if they only have tiny losses?  Because those handful of gigantic banks (only 9 banks in the …