WCS Bank Beirut (IFC-41344)

Countries
  • Lebanon
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
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
FI
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."
Voting Date
Oct 25, 2018
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
BANK OF BEIRUT SAL
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)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 100.00 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 @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Aug 17, 2018

Disclosed by Bank Aug 16, 2018

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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.

The proposed Project consists of senior loan under IFC’s Working Capital Solutions product (WCS) to Bank of Beirut S.A.L., an existing IFC client. The project will provide funding to the Bank to support its trade finance business and working capital needs of the Bank’s clients.

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

The project entails a senior loan of up to US$100 million for 2 years renewable at IFC’s option. The purpose of the loan is to support the Bank’s short-term trade and working capital business and meet client needs.

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.

Originally established in 1963 and renamed in 1973, Bank of Beirut is the sixth largest bank in Lebanon with an asset size of US$18.4 million corresponding to a market share of close to 7 percent in the banking sector as of December 31, 2017. In terms of trade finance activity, the Bank is the leading bank commanding a market share of 21.5 percent among commercial banks as of December 31, 2017.  In addition to its strong presence in Lebanon, the Bank is present in 9 different countries through subsidiaries (Bank of Sydney, Bank of Beirut UK), foreign branches (Oman, Cyprus, Germany), and representative offices (UAE, Nigeria, Ghana, Qatar).


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.

Bank of Beirut SAL 
Moussa Abdallah 
Head of FI & Correspondent Banking 
+961960540 
moussaabdallah@bankofbeirut.com 
Bank of Beirut HO – Riad El Solh Street – Beirut Central District 
Websitewww.bankofbeirut.com 

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC

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