The Inter-American Investment Corporation
The IIC is legally autonomous and its resources and management are separate from those of the IDB. It began operations in 1989 providing debt and equity financing for small and medium-size private enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean, and arranging for “B” cofinancing. It is owned by its 42 member countries: 26 borrowing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 13 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland), the United States, Japan, Israel, and the Republic of Korea. Its authorized capital is USD 703,7 million; its leverage capacity increases the total amount of resources it can channel to its operations to nearly USD 3 billion. On an annual basis, the IIC can approve 30-40 operations for a total between USD 200 million and USD 350 million, concerning up to 400 enterprises.
IIC financing tools include direct loans, direct equity or quasi-equity investments, lines of credit to local financial intermediaries for onlending in the form of smaller loans, agency lines with local financial institutions for joint lending, investment in local and regional private equity funds, and guarantees for and investment in capital market offerings. The operations do not require government guarantees. By the close of 2005 the IIC had approved USD 1.9 billion in loans and held an active portfolio of USD 511 million.
More than 65 percent of cofinancing for Corporation projects has come from European financial institutions; procurement of goods and services originating in European member countries reaches approximately USD 250 million. The Corporation can also draw on special funds such as the IIC-Austrian Fund, the IIC-Danish Consulting Services TrustFund, the IIC-Italian Fund, and the IDB-Swiss Fund for carrying out studies and other activities. It has cooperation agreements with the Centre for the Development of Industry financed by the European Development Fund, the Nordic Development Fund and has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the AL-INVEST III Consortium.
