SLGP BFL (IFC-52103)

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
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
Dec 19, 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
Banque Franco-Lao Ltd (BFL)
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)
Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 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)
$ 20.00 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 Dec 30, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Nov 17, 2025

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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 is an unfunded risk sharing facility (RSF) to be provided to Banque Franco-Lao Ltd (“BFL”), a commercial bank incorporated in Lao PDR, for a maximum IFC risk amount of up to US$10 million covering a maximum portfolio of up to US$20 million of loans to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to be originated by BFL. The Project would be processed under IFC’s Small Loans Guarantee Program (“SLGP”), a programmatic approach to de-risk and scale-up financing for SMEs in eligible countries.                  

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 project entails an unfunded risk sharing facility (RSF) under the Small Loan Guarantee Program and will support Banque Franco-Lao Ltd (BFL)’s lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Lao PDR. BFL's SME portfolio focuses on sectors including services, electronics and consumer retails, hospitality, and real estate. While BFL has exposures in the corporate and other business segments, this project provides financial support only to BFL’s SME lending activities. Overall E&S risk and impacts of the project are therefore expected to be medium, and the project has been categorized as FI-2 in accordance with IFC's Sustainability Policy.

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

The proposed investment is an RSF to cover an SME loan portfolio to be originated by the Bank of up to US$20 million equivalent. IFC will provide guarantee of up to US$10 million equivalent, or 50% of the eligible portfolio.

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.

Established in 2010, Banque Franco-Lao Ltd (BFL) provides a full range of banking services, including loans, deposits, foreign currency transactions, digital banking, and trade finance to over 15,000 individual and commercial customers. As of December 31, 2024, the Bank had total assets of US$141.6 million, gross customer loans of US$76.5 millionn, and customer deposits of US$101.9 million. BFL is owned 70% by BRED Banque Populaire (BRED) through Cofibred S.A. (Compagnie Financière de la Bred), BRED’s holding arm of subsidiaries outside of France, and 30% by Banque pour le Commerce Extérieure du Laos (BCEL). BRED is part of Groupe BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France and one of the Global Systemically Important Banks, rated A+ (S&P), A1 (Moody's), and A+ (Fitch). BCEL is the largest commercial bank in Lao PDR.


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.

Banque Franco-Lao (BFL)
Omar Marottoli
Chief Credit Officer
Omar.marottoli@bfl.la
Lane Xang Avenue, Hatsady Village, Chanthabouly District, | P.O. BOX 5720, Vientiane Capital, Laos
https://bfl-bred.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

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