Deutsche Kreditbank issues Germany’s first EU Green Bond: the advisors

Hogan Lovells has advised a banking consortium on the placement of Deutsche Kreditbank‘s (DKB) first EU Green Bond, marking the first such issuance by a German bank under Regulation (EU) 2023/2631 (EU Green Bond Standard). The transaction was led by Frankfurt partner Dr. Jochen Seitz (PICTURED), who worked together with a team composed of Dr. Stefan Wollmert-Schrewe (Counsel), Anna Hersener (Associate), Lena Markert (Associate).

The consortium comprised ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Bayerische Landesbank (lead manager), Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, NatWest Markets N.V., Norddeutsche Landesbank – Girozentrale – and Société Générale.

On November 12, 2025, the senior preferred bond was issued with a volume of EUR 500 million, structured both as an EU Green Bond under the EU Green Bond Standard and as an ICMA Green Bond under the ICMA Green Bond Principles. The EU Green Bond has a maturity of 5.25 years, an issue price of 99.533 percent, and carries a coupon of 2.875 percent per annum.

Proceeds from the bond will be used under a portfolio approach to refinance loans for the construction and operation of wind and solar installations in Germany, including non-financial assets, capital expenditure (CapEx), and operating expenditure (OpEx). The environmental objective under the Taxonomy Regulation is climate change mitigation. Prior to issuance, DKB published the factsheet required under the EU Green Bond Standard and subjected it to pre-issuance review by an external verifier. The factsheet also contains detailed provisions on the selection and assessment of environmentally sustainable economic activities and taxonomy-aligned use of proceeds. Detailed information on the allocation and impact of proceeds will be published in the EU Green Bond allocation and impact report following issuance.

This transaction is one of numerous deals on which the Hogan Lovells team has advised DKB on the banking side. The Hogan Lovells team previously advised DKB on updating the first base prospectus for the issuance of EU Green Bonds under the EU Green Bond Standard approved by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).