(Bloomberg) -- Bank of Nova Scotia is debuting in the green bond market following other Canadian rivals including Royal Bank of Canada.

The Toronto-based lender is selling $500 million of 3.5-year senior bail-in green bonds, according to people familiar with the transaction, scheduled to be sold later today. The notes are being initially marketed at a spread of around 75 basis points over the U.S. Treasury yield curve.

Scotiabank is offering its first green bond a month after a panel of experts appointed by the Canadian government released a set of recommendations for bolstering the green and sustainable bond market, which include a set of tax incentives for investors and issuers as well as improving the reporting requirements.

BNP Paribas SA, ING Groep NV, JPMorgan Chase & Co are helping Scotiabank lead the transaction. Earlier this year, RBC sold 500 million euros of five-year senior bail-in green bonds. Issuers so far this year have priced a record $104.4 billion of global green bonds, compared with $70.3 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Esteban Duarte in Toronto at eduarterubia@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nikolaj Gammeltoft at ngammeltoft@bloomberg.net, Rizal Tupaz, Dan Wilchins

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