NDB’s GSS+ Bond issuance breaks new ground with record Rs. 16 b raised

From left:  NDB Investment Bank Ltd., Chief Operation Officer Kaushini Laksumanage, CSE  Chief Regulatory Officer Nilupa Perera, NDBIB CEO Harshana Jayaweera, NDB Senior Manager - Finance Kumudari Peiris, CSE CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike, NDB Director and CEO Kelum Edirisinghe, Deputy CEO K V Vinoj, Vice President - Company Secretary Shehani Ranasinghe, Vice President - Legal Dinali Dunuwille, Assistant Vice President - Project Finance Sumudu Abeygunasekara and Vice President - Finance Azzam A Ahamat 

National Development Bank PLC (NDB) commemorated raising Rs. 16 billion with its first ever issuance of BASEL III compliant GSS+ (Green, Social, Sustainable and Sustainability Linked) bonds and the country’s largest issuance of GSS+ bonds to date by way of a market opening ceremony conducted on the trading floor of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) on Friday.

Subscriptions were opened on 10 March 2026, with an initial issuance of 120 million BASEL III compliant tier 2, listed, rated, unsecured, subordinated, redeemable GSS+ bonds with a non-viability conversion of five and seven years, at a par value of Rs. 100 each. The issue was rapidly oversubscribed within the same day, allowing NDB to issue a further 40 million bonds, thus issuing a total of 16mn bonds by days end. The bonds, whose issuance was managed by NDB Investment Bank Ltd., constitutes the largest issuance of GSS+ bonds in Sri Lanka to date.

The GSS+ bonds form a part of a series of sustainability debt instruments that CSE offers with the bond issuance commemorated at the ceremony falling under the special BASEL III compliant category.  NDB, which has an early entry into renewable energy funding beginning in 2004, will utilise the proceeds from the bonds to finance SMEs (Small-to-medium enterprises), women’s empowerment, and green and blue initiatives. 

NDB Director/CEO Kelum Edirisinghe in his keynote at the ceremony said: “NDB has long played a pioneering role in advancing environmental and social progress, as a trusted development financier to individuals, businesses, and key sectors of the Sri Lankan economy. Since our inception in 1979, we have channelled capital toward national development priorities. Today, this GSS+ bond represents the evolution of that legacy, where decades of expertise in development financing are being actively aligned with emerging sustainability imperatives and innovative capital market instruments.”

CSE Chief Regulatory Officer Nilupa Perera remarked upon NDBs success as a statement on the effectiveness of sustainable debt instruments stating: “The success of NDBs BASEL III compliant GSS+ bonds reflects investors’ interest in equitable and green investments. CSE offers listed companies an innovative means of long-term value creation through the capital market that addresses the pressing need for sustainable and equitable economic prosperity.”

NDB is also host to a growing digital ecosystem through platforms such as NDB NEOS, an extensive island-wide network of 113 branches, which offers a range of financial solutions across retail, SME, corporate, and project financing, as well as a presence in the capital markets through NDB Capital Holdings Ltd.

The year 2025 saw 22 debt listings including 3 new companies listing on the exchange by way of debt initial public offerings (IPOs) including several firsts in the country from GSS+ (Green, Social, Sustainability linked) debt instruments, Shariah compliant debt instruments and High Yield bonds. The CSE platform, which is completely digitised, allows investor to directly sign on with brokers and trade on the market, and can be accessed through CSE’s mobile app, website and through CSE’s 11 branches across all 9 provinces.