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Sustainable Financing

SENTRAL’s Sustainable Finance Framework (the “Framework”)

In support of SENTRAL’s sustainability strategies and implementation, the “Framework” was established in January 2025.  This Framework demonstrates how SENTRAL and the SENTRAL special purpose entities intend to enter into Sustainability Finance Transactions (“SFTs”) to fund projects, which will deliver most positive societal and environmental impacts. The SFTs will support SENTRAL’s investment objective of acquiring and investing in commercial properties primarily in Malaysia with a view to provide long-term growth and sustainable distribution of income to unitholders to achieve long-term growth in the net asset value per unit. 

SENTRAL has developed this Framework which combines the Use of Proceeds and Sustainability-linked formats which can be used independently on a case-by-case basis, retaining full flexibility in terms of specific sustainability objectives and projects that the Group intends to support.

Under this Framework, SENTRAL will be able to undertake different types of SFTs and/or any other financing instruments in different formats and currencies as follows:

  • Use of Proceeds financing instruments i.e., Sustainable and Responsible Investment (“SRI”), Green, Social, and Sustainability (“GSS”) Sukuk/Bonds/Loans/Financing/Derivatives and any other financial instrument to which an eligible asset or project as defined in the Framework, are allocated.
  • Sustainability-linked financing instruments i.e., SRI-Linked Sukuk and Sustainability-Linked Bonds/Loans/Financing/Derivatives and any other financial instrument for which the financial and/or structural characteristics will vary depending on whether SENTRAL achieves the pre-determined Sustainability Performance Target(s) (“SPT(s)”) as defined in the Framework.

This Framework adopts the principles and/or guidelines set by the International Capital Market Association (“ICMA”), ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (“ACMF”), Securities Commission Malaysia (“SC”), Loan Market Association (“LMA”)/ Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (“APLMA”)/ Loan Syndications & Trading Association (“LSTA”), International Swaps and Derivatives Association (“ISDA”). These documents provide a set of voluntary guidelines that recommend transparency and disclosure and promote integrity in the development of the sustainable finance market by clarifying the approach for raising Sustainable Finance.

With respect to bonds/sukuk, issuance will be aligned with the following frameworks as appropriate for the type of bond issued or as they may be subsequently amended from time to time:

  • Green Bond Principles (“GBP”) 2021, Social Bond Principles (“SBP”) 2023, Sustainability Bond Guideline (“SBG”) 2021, and Sustainability-linked Bond Principles (“SLBP”) 2024 issued by ICMA; 
  • ASEAN Green Bond Standards (“GBS”) 2018, ASEAN Social Bond Standards (“SBS”) 2018, ASEAN Sustainability Bond Standards (“SUS”) 2018, and ASEAN Sustainability-linked Bond Standards (“SLBS”) 2022 issued by ACMF; and
  • SRI Sukuk Framework 2019 and SRI-linked Sukuk Framework 2022 issued by SC.

Loan transactions will be aligned with the following frameworks developed by LMA, APLMA, and LSTA or as they may be subsequently amended from time to time: 

  • Green Loan Principles (“GLP”) 2023, Social Loan Principles (“SLP”) 2023, and Sustainability-linked Loan Principles 2023 (“SLLP”). 
Derivatives will be aligned with the following guideline developed by ISDA or as they may be subsequently amended from time to time: 

  • Sustainability-linked Derivatives (“SLD”) KPI Guidelines 2021. 

The full Framework can be found at the link below:
🔗Sentral REIT Sustainable Finance Framework 22 Jan 2025 (For Publication)

External Review

To enhance the credibility of SENTRAL’s SFT, MARC Ratings Berhad (“MARC”) was engaged to provide a Second-Party Opinion (“SPO”) on the Framework. MARC considers the Framework to be in line with the core components of the applicable guidelines and principles. Based on MARC’s review of the relevant documentation and assessment as per its Impact Bond Assessment methodology, a “Gold” rating was assigned to the Framework.

The SPO opined by MARC can be found at the link below:
🔗MARC Assessment Report – Sentral REIT Sustainable Finance Framework 5 Feb 2025