Equity - Bank of Palestine (EBRD-55361)

Countries
  • Palestine, West Bank, Gaza
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
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
U
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 29, 2024
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 Palestine
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)
$ 15.00 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)
$ 15.00 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.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS Feb 21, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Aug 28, 2024

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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 the provision of up to USD 15 million investment into the primary capital of Bank of Palestine, the largest bank in West Bank in Gaza and a key pillar of the local economy. EBRD's investment will be funded out of the West Bank and Gaza Net Income Allocation Trust fund.

The key purpose of this joint investment is to further boost the capital of Bank of Palestine, a systemic financial institution which represents over 30% of the Palestinian market and allow the bank to maintain the required capital adequacy ratio. The investment will also provide a confidence boosting signal to the market which is expected to have a stabilizing effect on the local banking sector in light of mounting risks faced by the sector during the ongoing war in Gaza. The investment will also enable the bank to play an active and leading role in economic recovery.

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

Up to USD 15 million equity investment into the primary capital of Bank of Palestine.

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.

Bank of Palestine (BoP) is the largest bank in the West Bank and Gaza with over USD 7.0 billion in assets. BoP was founded in 1960 in Gaza. Headquartered in Ramallah, the bank operates a total of 100 branches across the West Bank and Gaza on a consolidated basis. The BoP banking group also encompasses an Islamic banking arm, a brokerage company, and an e-payment solutions and fintech arm, all of which employ over 2,500 people. BoP offers a broad array of financial products and services including retail, corporate, Islamic banking, e-banking and SME lending. BoP also focuses on providing services to promote the financial inclusion of women and youth. BoP is committed to ESG standards and has been leveraging technologies towards digitization making it a pivotal area for growth and innovation. 


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.

COMPANY CONTACT INFORMATION

Catherine Halteh
catherine.halteh@bankofpalestine.com
+972 599 390429
www.bankofpalestine.com/en
471

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can request information by emailing: accessinfo@ebrd.com or by using this electronic form: https://www.ebrd.com/eform/information-request

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EBRD

The Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the PCM, it may assess compliance with EBRD's own policies and procedures to prevent harm to the environment or communities or it may assist you in resolving the problem that led to the complaint through a dialogue with those implementing the project. Additionally, the PCM has the authority to recommend a project be suspended in the event that harm is imminent.

You can contact the PCM at: pcm@ebrd.com or you can submit a complaint online using an online form at: http://www.ebrd.com/eform/pcm/complaint_form?language=en

You can learn more about the PCM and how to file a complaint at: http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/project-finance/project-complaint-mechanism.html

How it works

How it works