Nanjing, China, September 17, 2002
—The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector financing arm of the World Bank Group, will provide Nanjing City Commercial Bank (NCCB) of China with an Italian-Government-funded technical assistance program that will help NCCB transform itself into a well-managed modern commercial bank by improving its management to meet international practices and standards.
Following IFC’s equity investment for a 15 percent equity stake in NCCB in February 2002, the technical assistance program is expected to further strengthen NCCB’s institutional capacity. The program is funded by the Italian Government and will focus on several areas that have been identified as in urgent need of improvement with regard to international best practices. Prior to the equity investment, IFC also provided the bank with an Irish Government funded technical assistance for an IAS review and audit of the bank’s financial performance to improve its credit and risk management policies and procedures.
IFC Vice President Mr. Assaad Jabre—who is on an official visit to China—said, “This technical assistance will help NCCB improve its managerial and operational practice. I would like to thank the Italian Government for their financial support in making this program possible.”
“What we need from IFC is not only capital, but more importantly, the modern management expertise that IFC can bring,” said Mr. Fu Lin, Chairman of the Board of NCCB.
NCCB was set up in 1996 through a merger of 40 urban credit cooperatives in the city of Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu Province. NCCB has a diversified shareholding structure. Its current shareholders include the Nanjing City government, district governments, and nine state-owned enterprises (30.2 percent); five large private/nonstate companies (24.1 percent); over 800 SMEs in Nanjing (23.2 percent); and over 6,000 individual Nanjing citizens, including 1,200 NCCB employees (7.5 percent), and IFC (15 percent).
IFC’s mission is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. Since its founding in 1956, IFC has committed more than $34 billion of its own funds and arranged $21 billion in syndications for 2,825 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s committed portfolio at the end of FY02 was $15.1 billion, with an additional $6.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
