Washington, D.C., April 9, 2002—The International Finance Corporation is launching a private website where qualified buyers and sellers of IFC B-loans can obtain real-time information for assignments of IFC B-loan participations—which are IFC loans syndicated to other financial institutions. The website will serve as an online resource for banks interested in selling an IFC B-loan and potential buyers that meet IFC’s criteria for participation in the B-loan program.  Membership in the website will give approved users access to other IFC B-loan participants and the ability to offer their B-loans for sale, search for B-loans to buy and view their own institution’s portfolio of IFC B-loans.

Membership in the website is free for qualified users and IFC’s B-loan participants are encouraged to apply via the homepage at www.ifcbloans.com.  More information about the IFC B-loan program is also available by visiting the homepage.

Suellen Lazarus, Director of IFC’s Syndications and International Securities Department noted, “We are delighted to introduce our new e-commerce website to the market.  The banks that participate in our B-loan program are vital partners for IFC—they leverage our impact.  The website responds to a need that banks have identified to us: making it easier to sell B-loans.  As B-loans are long-term assets, over time a bank’s strategy may change and it may become important for it to sell a particular B-loan.  Our new website very effectively addresses this need.”

IFC currently has over US$7 billion in B-loan participations in some 250 projects in developing countries worldwide.  B-loan participations are IFC loans syndicated to other financial institutions, who share in the credit risks of the loans with IFC, but also gain the advantages IFC derives from its status as a multilateral development institution.  IFC’s partners in the B-loan program are international commercial banks and financial institutions with substantial experience investing in and/or arranging finance in developing countries.

Agnes Michel, Head of Multilaterals at BNP Paribas, added, “IFC’s new web-based platform for IFC B-loan sales is a welcome and innovative response to the needs of its financial partners.  As a strong supporter of and experienced participant in IFC’s B-loan program, BNP Paribas believes that IFC’s new website—the first of its kind for a multilateral institution—represents a breakthrough in using the global reach and efficiency of the internet to lower the transaction costs and information barriers associated with a financial asset like the B-loan.”

IFC’s mission is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives.  IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses.  Since its founding in 1956 through the close of the last fiscal year on June 30, 2001, IFC committed more than $31 billion of its own funds and arranged $20 billion in syndications for 2,636 companies in 140 developing countries.  IFC’s committed portfolio at the end of FY01 was $14.3 billion.