What was financed?
PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn. Berhad (PNBMV), a wholly owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Berhad, was the issuer. The Securities Commission Malaysia's (SC) July–December 2017 Islamic Capital Market bulletin, Table 1, records the Merdeka ASEAN Green SRI Sukuk Programme, a limit of up to RM2 billion, and an issue date of 29 December 2017. It identifies the financing purpose as the 83-storey office space within the Merdeka PNB118 tower project. Read the original SC bulletin.
The cited SC record does not show that the sukuk financed the wider precinct's hotel, mall or residential components.
Sukuk are Islamic capital-market certificates structured under Shariah principles. SRI means Sustainable and Responsible Investment. The green label concerns the environmental purpose and associated commitments. Our green and SRI sukuk guide explains the basic financing route.
The programme allowed RM2 billion; the issuer later reported raising the full amount
A programme allows issuance within specified terms and an overall limit. A tranche is a particular portion issued under it.
The ASEAN Capital Markets Forum's original transaction table lists five PNBMV tranches dated 29 December 2017: RM10 million, RM20 million, RM30 million, RM60 million and RM570 million. Those entries total RM690 million, rather than the full RM2 billion programme limit. The table also records later issuances.
PNBMV's report as at 31 December 2024, pages 4 and 15, reports RM2 billion fully drawn down and no unutilised proceeds at that reporting date. This is the issuer's later account of allocation; it is not a claim that RM2 billion was raised on the first issue date.
How did the financing structure work?
The SC's March 2019 publication, Islamic Green Finance: Development, Ecosystem and Prospects, describes this case in section 5.2.2 and Table 2. It identifies ringgit financing, a 15-year programme duration and an unrated transaction—one without a credit rating. MIDF Amanah Investment Bank was the lead arranger, the bank that led the financing arrangement. Its structure combined murabahah through tawarruq—a commodity purchase and deferred-payment sale arrangement—with wakalah, an agency arrangement. Read the original publication, pages 58–59.
The commodity transactions used to structure the sukuk and the building financed with its proceeds are different parts of the arrangement. The green label neither removes payment obligations nor gives investors rights to the property. Those rights depend on the transaction documents.
The framework made the project and records visible
PNBMV's original Green Sukuk Framework describes proposed energy and water efficiency, public-transport access and construction-waste management. It also sets out designated accounts and promises annual investor reporting on spending and energy, carbon, water and waste, with external-auditor verification of specified records.
The framework aimed for LEED, Green Building Index and GreenRE certifications. An aspiration in this early document does not show that all three were subsequently awarded. The issuer's investor resources page now states LEED Platinum certification, while still describing the triple-rating target. Treat that as an issuer statement; separate certification-body records would be needed to confirm the full set of awards and their scope.
What do the reported results actually show?
The 2024 report treats 2024 as the first operating year for the office floors and the baseline for later comparisons. It reports zero on-site solar generation that year, with commissioning anticipated in late 2025. The energy figures exclude electricity used inside tenants' premises. These details matter before using the report to claim whole-building performance or achieved savings.
The attached EY report, dated 24 May 2024, provides limited assurance—a lower level of assurance than reasonable assurance—over management and use of proceeds for the year ended 31 December 2023. It excludes other information from its assurance scope. It should not be described as independent verification of the 2024 environmental-impact figures. Read the allocation, impact and assurance sections, pages 15–24.
