BFL Loan (IFC-38024)

Countries
  • Laos
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
Completed
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."
Voting Date
May 10, 2016
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
BANQUE FRANCO-LAO 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 Type(s)
Loan
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.
Loan 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.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Mar 25, 2019

Disclosed by Bank Mar 21, 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.

According to IFC website, the Project consists of a senior loan of up to US$15 million to be provided to the Banque Franco-Lao Ltd. with a up to 7-year maturity in order to support the Bank to further extend loans to the SME sector in Lao PDR. The project is expected to: 
1. Increase access to credit for SMEs and individual clients in Laos where banking penetration is still very low.
2. Demonstration effect: this will be the second loan of IFC in a commercial bank in Laos thus far and provide a role model for commercial banks keen to strengthen their corporate governance and better serve their customers and save cost.

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

BFL has two shareholders: French bank BRED Banque Populaire (“BRED”) holding 54% stake and Banque Pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao (“BCEL”) holding 46% stake.

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 Banque Franco-Lao Ltd. has two shareholders: French bank BRED Banque Populaire holding 54% stake and Banque Pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao holding 46% stake. It provides personal and corporate banking services. Its personal banking services include current accounts, saving products, credits and loans, debit cards, and BFL VISA international debit cards; and corporate banking services include current accounts, saving products, credits and loans, debit cards, Internet banking, money transfer, and IFC loan programs.


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.

Project Contact: Guilaume Perdon
Executive Managing Director, Banque Franco-Lao Ltd.
Office Address: Lane Xang Avenue, Hatsady Village Chanthabouly District P.O. Box: 5720
Viantiane Capital, Lao PDR
Telephone No.: +856 21 285 111
Fax No.: + 856 21 285 222

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/

How it works

How it works