IFC’s $120 mln investment in Vietnam lender SHB to widen SME loans

International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s investment arm, has decided to invest $120 million into Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) to help the Vietnamese lender expand financial access for small and medium enterprises.

An IFC disclosure seen on Monday shows that this investment was approved as a USD-denominated loan from the giant investor’s own account. IFC said SMEs that will benefit from this financing include women-owned SMEs and those participating in the SHB supply chain finance program.

In addition, IFC has proposed to establish a trade finance guarantee facility of $75 million under its Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) with tenors of up to 12 months to support SHB’s trade finance business.

On March 21, IFC signed a $40 million loan in Hanoi for SHB, also to help the private bank expand its SME portfolio. The World Bank arm said at the signing ceremony it was seeking another $50 million financing package for the same purpose.

The signed loan is the first phase of the $120 million package that was approved via the IFC disclosure seen on Monday.

Hanoi-headquartered SHB is one of the top private commercial banks in Vietnam. The bank claims it is serving more than five million individual and corporate customers and connecting to 500 correspondent banks across continents.