UNIBANK, S.A. (FMO-61630)

Countries
  • Panama
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO)
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 7, 2022
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
UNIBANK, S.A.
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)
$ 28.50 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.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 23.50 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 @ FMO website

Updated in EWS Nov 30, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Oct 6, 2022

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.

WHO IS OUR PROSPECTIVE CLIENT?

Unibank, S.A. (Unibank) is a medium size commercial bank in Panama. The Bank has total assets of USD 524mln and a loan portfolio of USD 336mln as of June 2022.

WHAT IS THE FUNDING OBJECTIVE?

The USD 23.5 million senior term facility consists of a SME tranche (up to USD 11.75mln) and a Green tranche (at least USD 11.75mln). The SME tranche will be used to support Unibank to grow its SME portfolio, while the Green tranche will be on-lend to green projects in line with FMO's green lending criteria, aimed at renewable energy and energy efficiency in Panama.

WHY DO WE WANT TO FUND THIS PROJECT?

Providing financing to small and medium enterprises and green projects in Panama will contribute to FMO's strategic goal to create jobs and reduce GHG emissions.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL RATIONALE

The bank is classified as E&S Category B in accordance with FMO's Policy. The bank has a an ESMS and integrated with its risk management framework. The risk categorization criteria include the national Environmental and Social (E&S) requirements. The categorization criteria also reflect those of the IFC and are considered adequate to identify those projects in Unibank's portfolio with the highest E&S risks. The overall exposure to IFC PS TTs remains <10% of the bank's total portfolio.

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 bank is classified as E&S Category B in accordance with FMO’s Policy. The bank has a an ESMS and integrated with its risk management framework. The risk categorization criteria include the national Environmental and Social (E&S) requirements. The categorization criteria also reflect those of the IFC and are considered adequate to identify those projects in Unibank’s portfolio with the highest E&S risks. The overall exposure to IFC PS TTs remains <10% of the bank’s total portfolio.

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

The USD 23.5 million senior term facility consists of a SME tranche (up to USD 11.75mln) and a Green tranche (at least USD 11.75mln). The SME tranche will be used to support Unibank to grow its SME portfolio, while the Green tranche will be on-lend to green projects in line with FMO’s green lending criteria, aimed at renewable energy and energy efficiency in Panama.

 

FMO NV

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.

Unibank, S.A. (Unibank) is a medium size commercial bank in Panama. The Bank has total assets of USD 524mln and a loan portfolio of USD 336mln as of June 2022.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Unibank Client Finance

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.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

As part of FMO's ex-ante disclosure (disclosure of transactions before contracting), you can send requests or questions for additional information to: disclosure@fmo.nl

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF FMO

Communities who believe they will be negatively affected by a project funded by the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) may be able to file a complaint with the Independent Complaints Mechanism, which is the joint independent accountability mechanism of the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) and the German Investment Corporation (KfW). A complaint can be filed in writing, by email, post, or online. The complaint can be filed in English or any other language of the complainant. The Independent Complaints Mechanism is comprised of a three-member Independent Expert Panel and it can provide either problem-solving, compliance review or both, in either order. Additional information about this accountability mechanism, including a guide and template for filing a complaint, can be found at: https://www.fmo.nl/independent-complaints-mechanism

How it works

How it works