Banco WestLB do Brasil has joined IFC’s global trade finance program to boost trade financing for local clients by giving it access to a network of international banks. IFC’s program issues trade guarantees for banks operating in emerging markets, helping mitigate the risks that otherwise might stop a bank from financing trade.
Banco WestLB do Brasil will start using the program with two export financing deals totaling $18mn to support the export trade of clients in the commodities industry.
IFC said that since launching the global trade finance program, it has issued $2 billion in guarantees to facilitate trade flows with Latin America and the Caribbean, with a network of 47 issuing banks in the region. More than 40% of the guarantees issued have benefited local small and midsize businesses and supported interregional trade flows between emerging market nations.
Carlos Eduardo Klingelhoefer da Fonseca, chief of financial institutions at WestLB do Brasil, said: “This relationship with the global trade finance program will help us increase our capacity to provide export financing to our clients and also increase access to new markets around the world.”
Andrew Gunther, country manager of Brazil at IFC, said: “WestLB do Brasil’s entry into the program is a key element of IFC’s efforts to strengthen the support of Brazilian enterprises active in trade.”
