Council of Europe Development Bank in $1 Billion Registered Bond Offering

Cleary Gottlieb represented Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan and UBS as underwriters in a registered offering by the Council of Europe Development Bank of $1 billion of 1.250% 5-year notes. This offering priced on September 15, 2011 and closed on September 22, 2011. This deal was the third U.S. notes offering by CEB in 2011. Cleary Gottlieb represented the underwriters in all three offerings, totaling $3 billion.

CEB is a multilateral development bank with a social vocation, established in 1956 by eight Council of Europe countries. Currently, 40 European states are members of CEB. The bank falls under the supreme authority of the Council of Europe but is legally separate and financially autonomous from it. The bank is solely responsible for its own indebtedness. CEB’s activities include providing aid to victims of natural or ecological disasters and other social objectives directly contributing to strengthening social cohesion in Europe, such as education and vocational training, health, social housing, employment in SMEs, improving living conditions in urban and rural areas, protection of the environment, preservation of historic and cultural heritage, and infrastructure intended for administrative and judicial public services. In order to serve these objectives, the bank grants or guarantees long-term loans to its member states or institutions approved by them. Since its inception, CEB has granted more than €30 billion in loans.