São Paulo, August 22, 2007 – IFC and
Banco ABN AMRO Real announced today a sustainability credit line for Banco
Real to fund clients’ projects that have a compelling impact on environmental
and social sustainability. The eight-year, $200 million-equivalent deal
was announced at a ceremony in Sao Paulo, attended by Lars Thunell, IFC’s
CEO and Executive Vice President, on his first official visit to Brazil,
and Fabio Barbosa, CEO of Banco ABN Amro Real.
This is the third and largest sustainability credit line undertaken by
the two institutions, and it follows up on sustainability-targeted funding
of $125 million-equivalent that has been disbursed by IFC to Banco Real
over the last two years. The full amount will be made available to
Banco Real, and on-lent to its clients, in local currency. The partnership
capitalizes on IFC’s innovative local currency-indexed funding capabilities
for its clients in Brazil, as well as Banco Real’s well-developed credit
business origination network.
“For both IFC and Banco Real, this is an important milestone, not only
because of the size of the facility, but also because it demonstrates how
both institutions are continuing to set high benchmarks for sustainability-related
lending initiatives,” said Lars Thunell IFC’s Executive Vice President
and CEO.
Thunell added that IFC’s partnership with Banco Real continues to heighten
awareness in Brazil’s financial and commercial sectors of the great potential
for sustainability-related banking business.
Fábio Barbosa, Banco ABN AMRO Real’s CEO, complemented: “The local
currency-indexed funding provided by IFC in these sustainability credit
lines helps us provide long-tenor local currency funding to clients with
worthwhile projects. Such funding is often not available in the domestic
market to these types of borrowers, especially small and medium enterprises.
In the absence of such funding from IFC, projects that have a strong
sustainability-related impact—that lead to environment-related
as well as corporate governance improvements at Brazilian companies—might
not be implemented.”
Sustainability-related projects already financed by Banco Real with prior
funding from IFC have involved, among other things, energy efficiency,
renewable energy, waste reduction and recycling, and water/effluent treatment,
as well as environmentally friendly production initiatives. Under
the credit lines, Banco Real can also on-lend IFC funds to family-owned
companies that already comply with good corporate governance practices,
and who commit to further improvements within a predetermined timeframe.
The basic standards as well as required improvements are implemented according
to an IFC-designed Corporate Governance Improvement Program framework.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth
in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing
capital in the international financial markets, and providing advisory
services to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that poor people
have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY06,
IFC committed $8.3 billion, including syndications, to 284 investments
in 66 developing countries. For more information, please visit www.ifc.org.
About ABN AMRO
- is a leading international bank with origins
going back to 1824.
- is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
- has more than 4,500 branches in 53 countries.
- has a staff worldwide of more than 105,000
full-time equivalents.
- is listed on Euronext (Amsterdam, Brussels
and Paris) and the New York Stock Exchange.
- aims to create value for its clients. Corporate
Values (Integrity, Teamwork, Respect
and Professionalism) underlie the bank's Business
Principles and both provide the
framework within which we conduct our daily work.
- has one global tag line: 'Making
more possible'.
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