SLGP SBL RSF (IFC-52346)

Countries
  • Nepal
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
Dec 18, 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
Siddhartha Bank RSF
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
  • Industry and Trade
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)
$ 20.00 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.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 40.00 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 Dec 23, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 11, 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 proposed project consists of an unfunded risk sharing facility (RSF) on a 50:50 basis between IFC and Siddhartha Bank Limited (Bank) in Nepal to support up to US$40 million Nepalese rupee (NPR) equivalent of eligible MSME loans to be originated by the Bank (the Project). IFC's maximum risk amount will be up to US$20 million NPR equivalent. The Project provides the Bank with a credit risk mitigation instrument to help increase access to finance for MSMEs, including women-owned MSMEs (WMSMEs) and climate MSMEs. It is the first time that IFC is doing an RSF in Nepal.Subject to eligibility confirmation, the Project would be processed under IFC's Small Loan Guarantee Program (SLGP, the Program), a programmatic approach to derisk and scale up financing for SMEs in Nepal and other eligible countries. SLGP is supported by a pooled first-loss guarantee (PFLG) provided by the IDA-PSW Blended Finance Facility.                                            

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 will support Siddhartha Bank Limited (SBL) through an unfunded risk-sharing facility (RSF) for its MSME portfolio. The MSME portfolio includes lending to microfinance institutions and to businesses involving retail and wholesale trading, construction, manufacturing and sectors such as cement, brick kilns and agri-based production with both short term and long-term exposure. The portfolio may also include renewable energy sub-projects. The main E&S risk and potential impacts of this investment relate the activities of the MSMEs, their ability to manage these risks and impacts, and the Banks capacity to identify and manage these E&S risks and monitor MSMEs’ E&S performance in line with IFC’s applicable E&S requirements.

Hence, the E&S risk of the proposed investment is medium, and the Project is categorized as FI-2 according to IFC's Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability. 

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

The proposed project consists of an unfunded risk sharing facility (RSF) to the client. IFC will cover 50% of an up to US$40 million equivalent portfolio consisting of eligible loans to SMEs, resulting in an IFC exposure of up to US$20 million equivalent.

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.

The Bank's shareholding is divided among the promoter and the public shareholders in the ratio of 51:49. The Bank is promoted by individuals and private institutions related to the different business houses of Nepal.


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.

Siddhartha Bank Limited
Shishir Hari Rajbhandari
Head Treasury and Investment Banking
977-1- 5970720
shishir.rajbhandari@sbl.com.np

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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How it works