Latham Advises on Third Tranche of First-Ever Multi-Country Listed Gender Bond Series

Latham has advised on Impact Investment Exchange's US$27.7 million Women's Livelihood BondTM 3 (WLB3) which is partially guaranteed by The United States International Development Finance Corporation. This is the third bond in the award-winning Women's Livelihood Bond Series (WLB Series), which will support approximately 180,000 underserved women and women entrepreneurs in the Asia Pacific Region in addition to advancing a total of 13 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The WLB3 follows on from the successful close of the US$12 million WLB2 in January 2020 and serves as the maiden investment of IIX’s Women’s Catalyst Fund. 

The WLB3 is part of the US$150 million WLB Series, and is focused on supporting women-focused enterprises in South and South-East Asia including India as they respond to, recover from, or rebuild during the COVID-19 pandemic. The issuance closed on December 10th, and will list on the Singapore Exchange. The senior secured bonds mature on December 10, 2024. 

Latham advised ANZ, Standard Chartered, and DBS. Led by Singapore partner Rajiv Gupta and Hong Kong partner Dominik Sklenar, the team included Hong Kong counsel Louis Rabinowitz and Singapore associate Esha Goel. Additional support was provided by London partner Lene Malthasen and associate Amina Tsatiashvili.