Standard Chartered Capital Optimization (MIGA-15599)

Countries
  • Ghana
  • Pakistan
  • Zambia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Borrower
Standard Chartered Bank plc (United Kingdom)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 160.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ MIGA website

Updated in EWS Nov 24, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Oct 23, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the project consists of guarantees for new and existing equity investments by Standard Chartered Plc (SCB or the Group) in its subsidiaries in Ghana, Pakistan and Zambia against the risk of Expropriation of Funds of mandatory reserves held at the respective host country central banks. This would enable SCB to obtain capital relief on its risk-weighted assets and use the freed-up capital to support the subsidiaries' growth. The investor has applied for a MIGA guarantee of an aggregate amount of USD160 million (USD 70 million for SCB's subsidiary in Ghana, USD 50 million for the subsidiary in Pakistan, USD 40 million for the subsidiary in Zambia) for a period of up to 3 years.

he key expected development impacts of the Project are: (i) increased lending to the private sector across various segments in Ghana, Pakistan, and Zambia including trade finance loans supporting export promotion and foreign exchange receipts, at a time when these economies face macroeconomic challenges and crowding-out conditions for the private sector; (ii) support for SMEs in Pakistan, which face significant barriers for access to credit; (iii) replication potential by international banks in Pakistan, given that this will be the first capital optimization project in the country; and (iv) support for banking sector resilience in Ghana and Zambia, which are both emerging from macroeconomic crises and undergoing sovereign debt restructuring.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

SCB offers financial products and services to corporate and SME clients and individuals. The MIGA guarantee will support trade finance and Short term corporate loans. These transactions are considered to be mostly medium risk, with potentially limited adverse E&S risks and impacts that are site-specific, reversible and can be addressed through mitigation measures. Transactions with significant adverse E&S risks and impacts will be excluded from the MIGA project. The Project is thus categorized as FI-2 in accordance with MIGA’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability (2013). The main E&S risks of this Project are associated with SCB Pakistan’s ability to identify, assess, and manage the E&S risks of its financing activities and the Bank’s labor practices.

 

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The investor has applied for a MIGA guarantee of an aggregate amount of USD160 million (USD 70 million for SCB’s subsidiary in Ghana, USD 50 million for the subsidiary in Pakistan, USD 40 million for the subsidiary in Zambia) for a period of up to 3 years. 

Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

With a 172-year history, Standard Chartered Bank is a leading UK-based multinational bank operating in 54 markets across the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Major SCB shareholders include Temasek Group, BlackRock and Vanguard Group. The company is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and is rated A3 (Positive) by Moody's, BBB+ (stable) by S&P, and A (stable) by Fitch.


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://www.miga.org/contact/access_to_information

You can also request general information about MIGA and for information on guarantees by emailing: migainquiry@worldbank.org

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org. You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

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How it works