Day: 22 December 2020

TD Bank Group Issues First-Ever Sustainability Bond to Support Environmental and Social Initiatives

Stuart Mitchell

The Toronto-Dominion Bank (“TD” or the “Bank”) has closed a three-year US$500 million sustainability bond maturing on September 28, 2023.  The issue marks TD’s inaugural sustainability bond and the first to be issued under the Bank’s Sustainable Bonds Framework. The proceeds from this issuance will be used to finance and/or refinance loans, investments and internal or external projects (collectively, “Eligible Assets”) that meet the Framework’s criteria for being considered environmentally or socially responsible. Examples of Eligible Assets include green buildings, clean transportation, access to essential services such as healthcare, affordable…

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2020 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark launches

Stuart Mitchell

The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) has launched its fourth edition of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) assessing 230 of the world’s most influential companies on their human rights disclosures. Nearly half of the global companies assessed are failing to demonstrate they are conducting human rights due diligence in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This is deeply concerning, given that human rights due diligence is at the heart of any good approach to managing human rights and is essential for companies to drive…

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Revenues down by a third ahead of key holiday season

Stuart Mitchell

Despite announcements of additional government support and positive early signs on a variety of potential vaccines, businesses concerns rise ahead of a challenging holiday season. The latest figures from the ongoing ‘Coronavirus – The Impact on Business’ survey – conducted by the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) – suggest the optimism felt over the summer months may have dissipated slightly. The estimates of revenue decline amid the pandemic had improved over the summer, from a low of almost half (-47.2%) in May to around a quarter in September (-27.9%). However,…

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CuleM Watches announces mission to set a new, sustainable standard for the luxury watch industry

Stuart Mitchell

CuleM Watches, which produces Swiss made, automatic GMT watches with designs inspired by the world, have launched a bold pledge to set a new sustainable standard for the luxury watch industry. From now on, at least 3% of sales will be donated to conservation and humanitarian causes, enabling watch-lovers to protect the planet through their timepiece. Through its new partnerships with Rainforest Trust and Ecologi, announced today, CuleM has protected 65 acres of tropical rainforest and planted an extra 10,000 trees, to create a CuleM Forest. For every watch sold,…

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$63bn removed from the global advertising market in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19

Stuart Mitchell

Global advertising spend is on course to fall by 10.2% – $63.4bn – to $557.3bn this year, led by sharp cuts in investment among the automotive, retail and travel & tourism sectors as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak finds WARC, the global marketing intelligence service.  The new projections, based on data from 100 markets worldwide, represent a downgrade of 2.1 percentage points compared to WARC’s previous global forecast of -8.1% made in May. It will take at least two years for the global ad market to fully recover, with…

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