WCS City (IFC-49485)

Countries
  • Bangladesh
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."
Borrower
THE CITY BANK LIMITED
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)
$ 50.00 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 May 15, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Mar 26, 2024

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Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

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 project consists of a senior loan of up to US$50 million to City Bank PLC in Bangladesh with a tenor of two years and with an option to rollover for an additional two years for a maximum tenor of four years. The proceeds of the investment will be used to meet the bank's immediate liquidity needs and extend loans to eligible sub-borrowers (export/import-based SMEs as per IFC’s definition of targeted sectors) through its offshore banking units (OBU) to enable the Bank to continue to support key sectors of the Bangladeshi economy affected by COVID-19 and the subsequent global economic headwinds. The Project will be supported by a pooled first loss guarantee of up to US$40 million provided by International Development Agency IDA Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility (IDA-PSW BFF).

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.

IFC’s loan will not be used to finance any activities in the Exclusion List, any coal related activities or higher risk activities that may include involuntary resettlement, risk of adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples, significant risks to or impacts on the environment, community health and safety, biodiversity, cultural heritage, significant retrenchment, or significant occupational health and safety risks. Hence, the E&S risk of the proposed investment is medium, and the project is categorized as FI-2 according to IFC's Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability. 

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

The proposed investment is a US$ denominated senior loan of up to US$ 50 million.

The Project will be supported by a pooled first loss guarantee of up to US$40 million provided by International Development Agency IDA Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility (IDA-PSW BFF). 

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.

City Bank PLC (“City Bank”) is one of the oldest private commercial banks in Bangladesh incorporated in 1983. The Bank is listed in both the Stock Exchanges of Bangladesh. As of December 31, 2023, City Bank is 30.71% owned by its directors and sponsors, 26.29% owned by institutional investors, 5.29% by foreign investors, and 37.7% are publicly traded.


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.

City Bank PLC
Mahbub Jamil
Head of Structured Finance
+880258813483 Ext:1264
mahbub.jamil@thecitybank.com

www.citybankplc.com

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