United Asia Loan Funding (IFC-36792)

Countries
  • Singapore
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Asia Pacific
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
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
Proposed
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."
Borrower
UOB ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD
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 Amount (USD)
$ 80.00 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)
$ 400.00 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 Aug 25, 2018

Disclosed by Bank Jun 17, 2016


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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.

The project consists of an IFC investment of up to US$80 million in United Asia Loan Funding Pte. Ltd. (“United Asia Loan Funding”), a collateralized loan obligation (“CLO”) special purpose vehicle, which will securitize primarily Asia emerging markets loans to borrowers domiciled in, or doing business in, the Asia-Pacific region that were originated by both global and regional banks in Asia. The objective of the project is to restart the CLO market in Asia after the global financial crisis and to deepen the capital markets in the region, which is critical for the resilience and stability of the financial sector and as an alternative source of funding to corporates.

The Joint Arrangers on this transaction will be Resource Capital Markets Inc. (“RCM”), Standard Chartered Bank (“SCB”), and United Overseas Bank Limited (“UOB”). RCM is an investment firm specialized in arranging and structuring CLO transactions. RCM is a subsidiary of Resource Financial Fund Management Inc., which is owned by Resource America, Inc. (“RAI”), an asset management firm based in New York. With a team of professionals located in New York, London and Singapore, RCM was formed in May 2008 and, along with its affiliates, provides a range of structured finance services including structuring and placement of CLOs and other structured credit securities, secondary trading of structured credit securities, debt restructuring and cash flow analysis of complex structured securities. SCB is an international banking group operating principally in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. UOB is a regional banking group with a strong foothold in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and China.

The assets of United Asia Loan Funding will be co-managed by UOB Asset Management Limited (“UOBAM”), based in Singapore, and SC Lowy Asset Management (“SCL”), based in Hong Kong. UOBAM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UOB. UOBAM is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Securities and Futures Act. UOBAM has been active in both Asian credit and structured credit since 1998. The firm has been collateral manager of multiple structured credit transactions. SC Lowy is licensed in Hong Kong as an asset manager, with assets under management of approximately US$500 million, comprised of Asian loans and bonds. SCL was founded in 2009 by Michel Lowy and Soo Cheon Lee and has operations in Hong Kong and London.

Expected Development Impact
Revival of the Asian Securitization Market: The success of this pioneering CLO transaction would be instrumental in the revival of the Asian securitization market, which has been dormant since the global financial crisis. The project will encourage similar transactions by other asset managers and increase the supply and liquidity of fixed income securities in the Asian market.

Development of a New Instrument: The CLO would be the first capital market product that offers complete transfer of risk and 100 percent capital relief to multiple commercial banks in emerging markets throughout Asia. The transfer of credit and liquidity risk to the capital markets would help free up bank balance sheets for term loans that they would not otherwise offer if they did not have a vehicle to offload this risk to the capital markets.

Improved Access to Finance: The project will also augment the secondary market for loans in Asia and incentivize further financial intermediation to corporate borrowers, which will help improve access to finance for corporates in the Asia-Pacific region.

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 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.

UOB Asset Management Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UOB. UOBAM is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Securities and Futures Act. UOBAM has been active in both Asian credit and structured credit since 1998. The firm has been collateral manager of multiple structured credit transactions.


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.

Resource Capital Markets, Inc.
10 Collyer Quay, Level 40
Singapore 049315
Attn: Jeffrey Tolk
Telephone: +65 6808 6387
mailto:jtolk@resourceamerica.com

Standard Chartered Bank
15/F Two International Finance Centre, 8 Finance Street
Central, Hong Kong
Attn: Thanh Thai
Telephone: +852 3983 8592
mailto:thanh.thai@sc.com

United Overseas Bank
80 Raffles Place, UOB Plaza 1
Singapore 048624
Attn: Benjamin Quek
Telephone: +65 6539 2132
mailto:Benjamin.QuekWB@UOBgroup.com

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC


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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