Washington, DC, April 1, 2003—
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, selected Banca Intesa, Italy’s largest commercial banking group, as the partner for an IFC technical assistance project to Nanjing City Commercial Bank of China. By supporting advice and training to improve practices at this important financial institution in Nanjing, the program will further IFC’s efforts to support the development of a more sophisticated Chinese financial sector that can better encourage private sector growth.
The program is funded by the Italian Government and will focus on several business areas that are in urgent need of improvement to be in line with international best practices. Bank Intesa will identify deficiencies and recommend improvements to NCCB’s organizational structure, policies, procedures and skills. The technical partner will further guide NCCB’s staff in implementing necessary changes. Training will be an important and significant element of the program.
“Banca Intesa is proud to have the opportunity to cooperate with IFC in the development of this technical assistance program in China. Our proven experience in the banking industry and training will enable us to strengthen NCCB’s capacity to operate in accordance with international best practices. We hope that this activity on behalf of IFC is the first of many in Asia and other countries where upgrading the banking sector should be instrumental to further economic development,” said Roberto Brambilla, chairman of Intesa Formazione and general manager of Banca Intesa.
IFC purchased an equity stake in NCCB in February 2002. “This technical assistance program is expected to further strengthen NCCB’s institutional capacity and Banca Intesa is an excellent technical partner for this project. We are pleased to have Intesa Formazione, the training arm of Banca Intesa, lead the training activities,” said Karin Finkelston, IFC country manager for China.
NCCB was established 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, including the Nanjing City government; district governments; nine state-owned enterprises; five large private-nonstate companies; over 800 SMEs in Nanjing and over 6,000 Nanjing residents, including 1,200 NCCB employees; and IFC.
Banca Intesa, one of the largest banking groups in Europe, was established in 2001 through the merger of three major Italian banks: Ambroveneto, Cariplo and Banca Commerciale Italiana. Banca Intesa has about 13 million banking and finance clients in Italy and other countries. It has thousands of offices in Italy and abroad, including offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. Intesa Formazione is the training arm of the Group and it provides its technical assistance and training.
The mission of IFC 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, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. Since its founding in 1956 through FY02, 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 worldwide committed portfolio as of FY02 was $15.1 billion for its own account and $6.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
