Symbiotics’ impact bond issuance platform lends USD 10 Mn to AccessBank
Microfinance Focus, December 03, 2012: Azerbaijan’s leading microfinance bank, AccessBank, received 10 million dollars through MSME Bonds, Symbiotics’ impact bond issuance platform, on November 20, 2012. The platform offers standardized electronically-traded syndications for fixed income investors. The transaction was offered by Symbiotics to an array of traditional and fixed income institutional investors in Europe, including a pension fund, a private bank and an impact investing fund.
AccessBank is the leading provider of financial services to micro-, small and medium- sized enterprises in Azerbaijan and has the highest credit rating among banks in the country. The bond offers 3-year financing to sustain the growth of its micro and small enterprise credit portfolio. AccessBank is owned by several development agencies and one international microfinance network. As of October 2012, AccessBank accounts for USD 577 million in total assets and serves over 300,000 clients through Press Release Geneva November 29th, 2012
Symbiotics has structured financing for AccessBank since 2006, originating over USD 30 million coming from its institutional investor clientele. This type of issuance, through a formalized bond platform, will help the microfinance institution to take a step further in gaining visibility and creating diversification in the European capital markets.
Symbiotics has been working with twenty investment funds and a dozen institutional investors, providing USD 1.3 billion of capital to nearly half a million micro-, small and medium enterprises through 150 financial institutions in 45 emerging economies.
MSME Bonds is a pass-through notes issuance platform based in Luxembourg. Through a unique syndication vehicle, it aims to address the needs of first tier microfinance institutions which contribute to sustainable social and economic development in developing economies. MSME Bonds repacks loans to these microfinance institutions into plain vanilla bonds. Such bonds, issued under a standard programme, are cleared and settled through Euroclear/Clearstream, making investments easy and simple.
