ONE Bank Limited (OBL) has recently inked a 5-year Term Loan deal for USD 80 million with a consortium of European DFIs (Development Financial Institutions) through a consortium led by FMO, the Dutch Development Bank.
It is participated by Proparco, OeEB and Norfund- French, Austrian and Norwegian DFIs, said a statement.
This has been FMO's largest syndication deal with a Bangladeshi bank.
RSA Advisory Limited was the Advisor and Co-Arranger to the transaction. The Fund will be utilized through ONE Bank's Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) for Green, SME and Corporate finances.
Almost simultaneously, IFC- the commercial arm of the World Bank has extended a WCS facility of USD 30 million to OBL. IFC is also processing further facilities to OBL such as 5-year Term Loan of USD 20 Million for Green Projects and another Non Funded Trade Finance facility of USD 30 million. This will enable the Bank to execute larger trade finance transactions for the country's importers and exporters.
About a year and half ago a very similar consortium, led by FMO and participated by OeEB and OFID - the OPEC fund for Economic Development, had lent USD 44 million to OBL.
DFIs play a crucial role in the international impact investment setting, promoting economic development in underserved regions. And OBL has adopted global environmental and social standards with the support from the DFIs which is a prime focus area of Bangladesh Government and Bangladesh Bank.
All these loans from the DFIs are being availed through the OBU of ONE Bank. These loans are indicative of strong confidence of the DFIs on the strength and stability of OBL in a market with 57 banks, a feat only matched by a very few other banks.
OBL within a very short span of time since its inception in 1999 has grown very fast. As of December 2017, the Bank had a total Asset of BDT 227.01 billion with a total Equity of BDT 14.22 billion and the Bank's Capital to Risk Weighted Asset Ratio ("CRAR") was 11.54 per cent. Its ROE and ROA were 19.66 per cent and 1.27 per cent respectively.
It offers a wide range of SME, corporate, retail, agriculture and off-shore banking products and services.
OBL has been consistently demonstrating its commitment for excellence through its various initiatives by adopting Bangladesh Bank guidelines as well as global environmental and social standards supported by multilateral arrangements.
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