Washington, D.C., November 23, 2006
—The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, today announced that Brazil’s Banco Daycoval has joined its Global Trade Finance Program as an issuing bank.
Saran Kebet-Koulibaly, IFC’s Associate Director for Latin America and Country Manager for Brazil, said, “The Global Trade Finance Program is a key element of IFC’s strategy in the country to reach out to second-tier banks in Brazil that support the growth of small and medium enterprises.”
The Global Trade Finance Program promotes trade with emerging markets worldwide by supporting flows of goods and services to and from developing countries. Through the program, IFC provides guarantee coverage of bank risk in emerging markets, allowing recipients to expand their trade finance transactions within an extensive network of countries and banks and to enhance their trade finance coverage.
Antonio Alves, IFC’s Latin America trade specialist, said, “IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program will allow Banco Daycoval to increase its trade capacity and enlarge its network of correspondent banks worldwide. Most important, it will help the bank to support small and medium exporters in Brazil.”
Morris Dayan
Banco Daycoval’s Chief Financial Officer said: “We are delighted to join the Global Trade Finance Program and build a strong relationship with IFC. Through the program, we will be able to provide better service in trade finance to our more than 1,000 clients, many of them small and medium size Brazilian exporters or importers. This will help them increase their business in new markets around the globe.”
Other Brazilian banks in IFC’s program are Banco ALFA, Banco Mercantil do Brasil, Banco Indusval, Banco BMC, and BICBANCO. For these banks, the program has provided guarantees for pre-export finance transactions and import letters of credit for a total value of $92.8 million since its inception in Brazil in February 2006.
IFC in Brazil
During fiscal year 2006, Brazil received the largest amount of IFC financing, in dollar value, among Latin American countries. IFC invested $738 million, including $258 million in syndications, in sectors ranging from oil, gas, infrastructure, agribusiness, health and education, and the financial sectors. IFC’s total portfolio in Brazil was $1.2 billion at June 2006.
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral provider of financing for private enterprise in developing countries. IFC finances private sector investments, mobilizes capital in international financial markets, facilitates trade, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to businesses and governments. From its founding in 1956 through FY06, IFC has committed more than $56 billion of its own funds for private sector investments in the developing world and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. With the support of funding from donors, it has also provided more than $1 billion in technical assistance and advisory services. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About Banco Daycoval
Banco Daycoval was founded in 1989. It operates 15 branches concentrated in the south and southeast of the country. It main business is commercial lending to small and medium enterprises, with a diversified portfolio in agribusiness, automotives, commerce, foods, financial services, general services, manufacturing, and textiles. Daycoval established its trade finance department in 1995 to satisfy the increasing demand for trade finance instruments.