First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has issued and settled AED1 billion ($272.2 million) in digitally native green notes, marking the first digital green bond issuance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Priced at 5.75% on 13 October 2026, the three-year notes were settled through Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI) on 15 October. The proceeds will support projects with environmental or climate-related benefits.
Key Overview
- Issuer: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB).
- Bond value: AED1 billion ($272.2 million).
- Interest rate: 5.75%.
- Pricing date: 13 October 2026.
- Settlement date: 15 October 2026.
- Maturity date: 15 October 2029.
- Technology: Distributed ledger technology (DLT) through Euroclear’s D-FMI.
- Use of proceeds: Projects with positive environmental or climate-related benefits.
FAB Combines Green Finance With Digital Bond Technology
First Abu Dhabi Bank has issued AED 1 billion 3-year digitally native green notes, becoming the first bank to issue a digital green bond in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The three-year issuance, equivalent to approximately $272.2 million, brings together sustainable finance and digital capital markets infrastructure. It demonstrates how financial institutions can use digital technology to issue securities while directing funding towards environmental and climate-related projects.
The notes were priced on 13 October 2026 at an interest rate of 5.75 percent and settled on 15 October through Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure. They are scheduled to mature on 15 October 2029.
The transaction adds to FAB’s digital capital markets activity while supporting its broader commitment to sustainable and transition financing.
Proceeds to Support Environmental and Climate Projects
The bond proceeds will finance projects with positive environmental or climate-related benefits.
Green bonds allow issuers to raise capital for eligible environmental initiatives, potentially including renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate-resilient infrastructure, depending on the issuer’s financing framework and project eligibility criteria.
For FAB, the issuance brings its sustainable finance activities into a digitally native format. This connects the allocation of capital towards environmental objectives with the use of digital infrastructure in financial markets.
The transaction forms part of a wider financing strategy. By the end of the first half of 2026, FAB had facilitated AED395 billion in sustainable and transition financing, equivalent to 79% of its AED500 billion target for 2030.
The latest bond therefore contributes to the bank’s wider sustainable finance positioning, although the specific projects financed by this particular issuance have not been individually detailed in the available announcement.
Euroclear’s Digital Infrastructure Supports Settlement
The issuance was completed through Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI), which uses distributed ledger technology to facilitate the issuance, distribution and settlement of digitally native securities.
Distributed ledger technology maintains transaction records across a shared digital system. In capital markets, it can support the processing and recording of securities transactions, with the potential to reduce manual steps and improve operational efficiency.
Euroclear’s platform connects digital issuance with established market infrastructure. This allows participants to use digital processes while retaining access to conventional secondary-market services and liquidity arrangements.
For investors and financial institutions, this integration is important because digital securities need to work within existing market structures rather than operate in isolation.
FAB’s transaction illustrates how digital technology can be applied to a green bond without changing the central purpose of raising capital for environmentally beneficial projects.
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FAB Builds on Its Earlier Digital Bond Issuance
The new green bond builds on FAB’s inaugural digital bond issuance in 2025. The latest transaction will represent its second digital bond listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).
FAB remains the only issuer with digital bonds listed on ADX, according to the announcement. The development reinforces the bank’s role in the UAE’s evolving digital capital markets.
The transaction also involved several financial institutions. FAB and Standard Chartered acted as digitally native notes structurers, while Emirates NBD, FAB, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia), and Standard Chartered served as joint lead managers. Citibank’s London branch acted as fiscal agent and digitally native notes agent.
These roles demonstrate the coordination required to bring a digitally native security to market, from structuring and distribution to settlement and administration.
Digital Securities Could Expand Sustainable Financing
The issuance highlights a developing intersection between sustainable finance and digital securities. Green bonds are already used to mobilise capital for environmental projects, while digital infrastructure offers an alternative way to issue and process financial instruments.
Combining the two could help financial institutions improve transaction workflows and expand their digital financing capabilities. However, the broader benefits will depend on adoption, interoperability with existing systems and the ability to maintain reliable investor access.
Digital issuance does not, by itself, guarantee that a project delivers environmental benefits. Those outcomes depend on how proceeds are allocated, how eligible projects are selected and how their impacts are measured and reported.
Outlook
FAB’s AED1 billion digitally native green bond marks a milestone for sustainable finance in the MENA region. The issuance connects climate-oriented funding with distributed ledger technology while maintaining links to established capital markets infrastructure.
The next consideration will be how the proceeds are deployed and how the financed projects contribute to environmental objectives. More broadly, the transaction provides an example of how digital securities could support the development of sustainable finance across the region.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How much is FAB’s new digital green bond worth?
The bond is worth AED1 billion, equivalent to approximately $272.2 million.
2. What interest rate does the bond offer?
The notes were priced at an interest rate of 5.75% on 13 October 2026.
3. What will the bond proceeds finance?
The proceeds will support projects with positive environmental or climate-related benefits.
4. What technology supports the issuance?
The bond was issued and settled through Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure, which uses distributed ledger technology to process digitally native securities.
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