Project Emerald (IFC-49175)

Regions
  • Europe and Central Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Poland
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
Proposed
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
Apr 30, 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
VeloBank S.A. (Bank Guarantee Fund)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Finance
  • Industry and Trade
  • Transport
  • Water and Sanitation
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Equity
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 35.00 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 Apr 1, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Mar 29, 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.

As stated by the IFC, the proposed project is an equity investment of up to US$35 million in VeloBank S.A. for an ownership stake of up to 9.9 percent. VeloBank is the bridge bank resulting from the resolution of Getin Noble Bank S.A. (GNB) in September 2022 and currently stands as the 9th largest bank in the country.
An affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management L.P. (Cerberus) has signed an agreement with the Bank Guarantee Fund (BFG), Poland’s Resolution Authority, to purchase 100 percent of the shares of VeloBank and to recapitalize the Bank to meet regulatory requirements.
The transaction's completion, subject to obtaining the necessary approvals, is expected to occur in mid-2024. IFC would participate in the equity transaction alongside Cerberus.

The Project will provide equity to VeloBank to support its strategic growth ambition and is expected to increase access to climate finance in Poland by specifically strengthening VeloBank’s new climate finance projects including renewable energy, energy, and water efficiency, and clean transportation projects, therefore contributing towards shifting Poland’s energy generation mix.

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.

As stated by the IFC, the project is expected to support mostly business activities with low to moderate environmental or social risks or impacts that are few in number, generally site specific, largely reversible, and can be readily addressed through mitigation measures. However, a limited number of sub-projects with significant adverse E&S risks and potential impacts might be supported by the Bank. Therefore, the project has been categorized as FI-2 in accordance with IFC’s Sustainability Policy.

People Affected By This Project
People Affected By This Project refers to the communities of people likely to be affected positively or negatively by a project.

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.

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.

As stated by the IFC, VeloBank is a medium-sized Polish bank providing mostly retail and some commercial banking services. It was established as a bridge bank through the resolution of GNB in September 2022, where parts of GNB were spun-off.
As of December 31, 2023, the Bank became the 9th largest bank by gross loans in Poland with 1 percent market share in total loans and above 3 percent market share in consumer lending. In terms of deposits, VeloBank has over 2 percent market share in total deposits and nearly 4 percent market share in deposits of private individuals. It operates an efficient nationwide network of 148 branches, of which 68 are own branches and 80 are franchises.
Currently, VeloBank is 100 percent controlled by BFG. Following the completion of the sale of the Bank, Cerberus is expected to own at least 80.2 percent of the Bank, while one or two International Financial Institution(s), including IFC, will each own 9.9 percent.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
International Finance Corporation (IFC) Investor Finance contracts with Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. Investor 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.

General IFC Inquiries - IFC Communications:

Address: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20433
Telephone: +1 202-473-3800
Fax: +1 202-974-4384

Parent Company - Bank Guarantee Fund:

Filip Dutkowski - Head of Communications
Phone: +48 22 58 30 979
Email: media@bfg.pl
Address: Skorupki 4, 00-546 Warsaw, Poland
Website: www.bfg.pl

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