BANCO PROMERICA S.A. (GUATEMALA) (FMO-51733)

Countries
  • Guatemala
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
May 29, 2017
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
Banco Promerica
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.
Ring Fence
  • Small & Medium Enterprises
A financial intermediary is a commercial bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank, sometimes for a specific lending purpose. A "ring fence" is another name for this specific purpose. These funds are then used for lending by the financial intermediary to client companies or individuals.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 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.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 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 @ FMO website

Updated in EWS Aug 24, 2023

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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.

FROM FMO:
WHO IS OUR CLIENT

Banco Promerica, S.A. (Promerica GT) started operating in 2007, following the acquisition of Bancasol, an institution founded in 1995. Promerica GT has since grown into a mid-sized universal bank, with total assets over USD 800mln. Promerica GT is part of the Promerica Group, a financial group of Nicaraguan origin which currently operates in 9 different countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. The group is a strategic partner of FMO.

FUNDING OBJECTIVE

The USD 20 million facility comprises a SME tranche (USD 10 million) and a Green tranche (USD 10 million). The SME tranche will enable Promerica GT to continue expanding its SME portfolio, a sector of increasing importance to the bank. As for the Green tranche, FMO's funding and technical support will make Promerica GT a pioneer among Guatemalan banks in the provision of finance to green projects. The beneficiary projects will be in line with FMO's green lending criteria.

WHY WE FUND THIS PROJECT

Supporting SMEs and green projects in Guatemala contributes to FMO's strategic goal to create jobs and reduce GHG emissions. This transaction forms part of the Promerica Group-wide green line approach, where FMO is providing dedicated financing facilities to 4 subsidiaries.

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

There is often limited information publicly available about what development banks are funding through financial intermediaries. In 2021, the Early Warning System partnered with Oxfam International to incorporate information on high-risk projects being funded by financial intermediaries receiving funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Dutch Development Bank (FMO).

The information listed below describes the relationship between the different private actors linked to high-risk sectors and subprojects of IFC and FMO's financial intermediary investments and/or the financial intermediary's parent companies made from 2017 through 2020, including any associated ring fences.

The database, however, does not explicitly or implicitly imply that IFC or FMO have material exposure to or are contractually or legally accountable to the sub-projects financed by their financial intermediaries or the financial intermediary's parent companies. It only shows a seemingly financial relationship among the different private actors, the financial intermediaries, and IFC or FMO.


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.

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