Asialink Loan (IFC-45749)

Countries
  • Philippines
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
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
Oct 9, 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
Asialink Finance Corporation
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
  • Industry and Trade
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)
$ 107.00 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)
$ 130.00 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 10, 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 proposed investment aims to support Asialink Finance Corporation (AFC) to expand its financing towards MSMEs, including WMSMEs, through a senior loan financing package of up to U$130mn that includes IFC own account and B1 Loan/Parallel Loan mobilization. IFC will also provide a cross-currency swap to help AFC hedge the currency and interest rate risk from the IFC investment.

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 proposed project consists of a loan package to Asialink Finance Corporation (AFC) to support the expansion of its small and medium enterprise (SME) lending activities. The project will not support any higher-risk activities that involve (a) involuntary resettlement; (b) potential adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples; (c) significant risks to or impacts on the environment, community health and safety, biodiversity, cultural heritage; (d) risk of significant retrenchment or (e) significant occupational health and safety risks. Coal-related activities will not be allowed for the project. The project has medium E&S risks and is therefore categorized as an FI-2 project in accordance with IFC's Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy. The primary E&S risks are associated with the SME activities financed by the project, which may include site -specific risks such as occupational health and safety, waste and wastewater discharge, and labor and working conditions.

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

IFC’s proposed investment consists of a 4-year senior loan of up to US$100 million from IFC’s own account, and mobilization of up to U$30 million from B1 Loan Participants/Parallel Lenders, and a cross-currency swap with it, to help the Company grow its portfolio of MSMEs, including WMSMEs.

IFC's Investment as Approved by the Board: Loan 100.0 million (USD) / Risk Management 7.0 million (USD) 

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.

Incorporated in 1997, AFC is one of the leading Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI) in the country. It is part of the Asialink Group of Companies (the Group) which includes Global Dominion Financing Inc. (GDFI) and South Asialink Finance Corporation (SAFC). The Group focuses on providing vehicle-backed financing to MSMEs and retail clients.

It is expected that two of AFC’s sister companies, Global Dominion Financing Inc (GDFI) and South Asialink Finance corporation (SAFC), will be integrated with AFC to form one business entity. Both GDFI and SAFC are NBFIs in the Philippines and are mainly involved in similar vehicle or vehicle-backed financing activities.


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.

Asialink Finance Corporation
Eillen Mangubat
President and Chief Operating Officer
+639175775562
apples.mangubat@asialinkfinance.com.ph
Suite 210 AIC Gold Tower Emerald Avenue cor Garnet Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
https://www.asialinkfinance.com.ph/

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

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