DCM Standard Bank Group FLAC (IFC-52097)

Countries
  • South Africa
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
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
May 21, 2026
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
Standard Bank Group Limited
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)
Equity
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 102.00 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 Oct 6, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jun 16, 2026

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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 bank provided information, the proposed project is an up to ZAR1.7 billion (approximately US$102 million) IFC anchor investment in Flac bonds issued by Standard Bank Group Limited (SBG), an existing IFC client. The proceeds of the IFC investment will be used by The Standard Bank South Africa Limited (SBSA or the Bank), a wholly owned subsidiary of SBG, to support SBSA’s home loan portfolio in the affordable housing segment of South Africa (the Project).  

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

The Project involves an IFC anchor investment of up to ZAR1.7 billion in Flac bonds issued by SBG and listed on the JSE.   

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.

 

SBG is Africa's largest financial services group by total assets and provides banking, insurance, investment products and services to retail, commercial and corporate customers across Africa. SBG is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and A2X, with a secondary listing on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSE), employs over 50,000 people across twenty-one countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and has global centers in London, New York, Dubai, and Beijing. SBG is 19.7% owned by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and 14.4% by South Africa’s Government Employee Pension Fund (PIC). Other shareholders each own less than 5% of SBG.  

SBSA is the leading bank in South Africa, with an estimated 26% market share by total assets. As of December 2025, SBSA had total assets of US$140.2 billion, net loans of US$89.6 billion, customer deposits of US$99.5 billion, and total equity of US$9.5 billion. 


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.

For Inquiries About the Project, Contact

Standard Bank Group Limited
Marc Hearn
Head of Strategic Funding
+27 11 344 5004
Marc.Hearn@standardbank.co.za
50 Bath Ave, Rosebank, Johannesburg, 2196
https://www.standardbank.com/sbg/standard-bank-group

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

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