|
Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 30, 2015
– IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, announced that Banco Santander Rio S.A., the largest private bank in Argentina, has joined its Global Trade Finance Program to expand access to trade finance for businesses operating in key export and import sectors.
“We are pleased to join IFC’s trade finance program, and hope this agreement represents the first step towards a long-term relationship with IFC,” said Agustin Mariani, Managing Director of Global Transaction Banking of Banco Santander Río. “This partnership will also help us to expand our access to trade finance lines from international banks, allowing us to continue to support the growth of international trade business in Argentina”.
“Working with financial institutions such as Banco Santander Río plays an important role in IFC’s strategy to support private sector growth in Argentina. IFC looks forward to the partnership with Banco Santander Río to help the bank serve critical sectors of the Argentine economy,” said Paulo de Bolle, IFC Head of Financial Institutions Group for Latin America and the Caribbean. According to Sabrina Borlini, IFC Global Manager of Trade and Commodity, “with this project, IFC reaffirms its commitment to strengthening the local financial market and helps Argentina to achieve its development goals by providing critical funding solutions.”
“By joining the Global Trade Finance Program, Banco Santander Río will be able to establish stronger and far reaching relationships with banks in countries that want to trade with Argentina. These connections are key elements of IFC’s strategy to strengthen international trade for Argentina and the region as a whole” said Salem Rohana, IFC Country Manager for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. “This agreement comes at an important time for Argentina’s private sector and reaffirms IFC’s long term commitment to its clients and the country.”
IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program supports trade in emerging markets by providing partial or full guarantees for individual trade transactions through an effective mitigation instrument, IFC’s triple-A credit rating. From its inception in 2005 till October 2015, IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program has already supported more than US$13 billion in trade flows in Latin American and the Caribbean countries through its guarantees. Nearly 75% of these transactions have benefited local small and midsize businesses and over 45% have supported trade flows between emerging market countries, reinforcing IFC’s goal to be an important facilitator of South-South investment.
IFC’s financing to Banco Santander Río is part of IFC’s strategy to foster Argentina’s private sector development by supporting its local financial market. IFC aims to achieve these goals through the use of innovative financial products and mobilization, fostering micro, small and medium enterprises, encouraging corporate social responsibility, protecting natural resources through environmentally-sustainable business practices, and promoting business expansion into other emerging markets. For more information about IFC in Latin America and the Caribbean, visit
www.ifc.org/lac
.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our capital, expertise, and influence, to create opportunity where it’s needed most. In FY15, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $18 billion, helping the private sector play an essential role in the global effort to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
About Santander Río
Santander Río is the largest private bank in Argentina in terms of savings (deposits and mutual funds) and credit volumes. The bank has 392 branches, a customer base of more than 2.5 million clients (of which more than 190 thousand are small and medium enterprises, and approximately 1,200 are large corporates), more than 7,000 employees, and is present in 22 provinces and in the city of Buenos Aires. It is a leading bank in Argentina payments, trade finance, transaction services and cash management, and one of the main players in stock market, and government and exchange securities. Santander Rio has a comprehensive corporate social responsibility program, focusing on tertiary education and job generation. For more information, visit
www.santanderrio.com.ar
|
