GSCF-SMBC (IFC-48462)

Regions
  • World
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
Approved
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."
Voting Date
Feb 16, 2025
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
SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION
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)
$ 1,000.00 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 May 15, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Feb 6, 2025

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

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 proposed investment is a funded risk-sharing facility with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (“SMBC”) in a portfolio of supply chain finance-related assets for up to US$300 million with IFC investment of up to US$150 million. The Project falls under the Global Supply Chain Finance (GSCF) Program, a program launched by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in December 2022. The GSCF supports open account trade in emerging markets by providing funded or unfunded risk participation in partner banks’ facilities.

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.

The proposed Project involves a funded risk-sharing facility with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) for a portfolio of supplier finance assets with the obligors being the cross-border buyers. The proceeds of the Project will be used to support suppliers involved in the export/import trade, including select agriculture commodities, across multiple geographic regions. Potential environmental and social risks of the Project are mainly associated with the supply chains and derive from the production of the traded goods and commodities, typically related to issues of child and forced labor, occupational health & safety, biodiversity impacts, supply chain management. The Project has been classified as FI-2 category according to IFC's Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy.

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

IFC's Investment as Approved by the Board: Loan 1000.00 million (USD)

 

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.

SMBC Group was established in April 2001 by the merger of two leading Japanese banks: The Sumitomo Bank and the Sakura Bank. SMBC Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), a financial conglomerate including other financial services such as leasing, securities, credit card, mortgage and venture capital.

SMBC Group is one of the largest commercial banks in Japan with an extensive network and growing international presence and is one of the key partners for IFC. As of March 31, 2021, SMBC Group had over 850 branches/offices in Japan, and 148 overseas branches/offices in the US, Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia (ex. Japan).

As of March 31, 2021, SMBC (excluding group companies) had total assets of USD 2,191bn, total deposits stood at USD 1,283bn and total equity at USD 86bn. SMBC Group is rated “A” by Fitch, “A-” by Standard & Poor’s, and “A1” by Moody’s.


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.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
Veronica Yeo
Executive Director - Global Trade Finance Department, Asia Pacific Division
65-68820271
veronica_yeo@sg.smbc.co.jp
88 Market Street #33-01, Singapore 048948
www.smbc.co.jp/asia

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

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

How it works

How it works