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[World Bank Accelerates Catastrophe Bond Issuance, Bringing New Momentum to Sovereign Markets] ⑴ The World Bank issued $200 million in four-year sovereign catastrophe bonds for Jamaica, a country vulnerable to hurricanes. This is its largest and longest-term transaction of its kind to date, injecting new momentum into the sovereign catastrophe bond market. Previously, the Asian Development Bank issued $160 million in "disaster relief" bonds for Central Asian countries, and other major multilateral development banks are also exploring this instrument. ⑵ Michael Bennett, Head of Global Markets Solutions and Structured Finance at the World Bank, said the institution "definitely wants more sovereign catastrophe bond issuances in the market" and is currently working on "several" deals, expecting one or more to be completed this year. He noted that many highly vulnerable countries could benefit from incorporating catastrophe bonds into their strategies. ⑶ Despite the trend of wealthy countries cutting aid budgets, which may reduce contribution support for premium payments to low-income countries, demand for catastrophe bonds from asset management and insurance-linked securities professionals is substantial and appears to be growing. Bennett stated that the World Bank and other multilateral development banks could meet the demand for sovereign catastrophe bonds of $1 billion to $2 billion annually if needed; supply is the greater challenge. (4) Jamaica's issuance used SOFR plus 687 basis points, was listed in Singapore, and for the first time introduced Moody's RMS as its risk modeling institution. Jamaica uses catastrophe bonds as one layer of a multi-tiered protection mechanism that includes reserves, insurance, and standby loan conditions liquidity. Jamaica's Finance Minister stated that establishing disaster risk financing is a key pillar of its resilience-building framework.