DCM UBP Sus. (IFC-50545)

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 6, 2025
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
UNION BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES
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)
$ 200.00 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)
$ 200.00 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 Nov 12, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jul 15, 2026

Contribute Information
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 bank's website, the approved investment is IFC’s subscription of up to US$200 million or its equivalent in PHP in a sustainability bond with a tenor of 5 years to be issued by Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP or the Bank) to support the Bank's growth of its eligible green and social assets (the Project). The issuance will be UBP’s first sustainability bond, which will adhere to ICMA’s Sustainability Bond Principles. The proposed investment is part of IFC’s broader programmatic approach in the Philippines to deepen capital markets for sustainability-related thematic bonds, building on the country's successful development of a green bond market where IFC played a catalytic role.

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.

Environmental Category: FI-2 - Limited 

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

The proposed investment is IFC’s subscription of up to US$200 million or its equivalent in PHP in a sustainability bond with a tenor of 5 years to be issued by UBP. The investment is expected to support the Bank in growing its green and social assets. 

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.

UBP is the 8th largest publicly listed bank in the Philippines with total assets of approximately US$19.7 billion as of December 2025. The Bank provides various financial products and services such as corporate, middle market, retail lending, deposits, investment, treasury and capital market services, trust and fund management, as well as remittance services. The Bank was incorporated in 1968 and operates as a universal bank through its license granted in 1992. The Bank is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. As of December 2025, the Bank has over 388 branches across the country as well as digital banking platform. The Aboitiz Group owns 49.99 percent of UBP and is one of the largest conglomerates in the country with interests in power distribution and generation, infrastructure and industrial materials, food manufacturing, real estate, and financial services. The Bank is also owned by the Social Security System of the Philippines (SSS), who holds a stake of 18.35 percent. SSS is a government owned and controlled corporation that provides social security to workers in the private sector. Insular Life Assurance Company (Insular Life) is one of the largest Filipino-owned life insurance companies and owns a stake of 12.42 percent in UBP.). 


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.

Union Bank of the Philippines 

Project Team Leader: Johnson L. Sia 

Title: Treasurer and Global Markets Head 

Email: jlsia@unionbankph.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