BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil - The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced today the inclusion of Banco de Crédito Centroamericano (BANCENTRO) as the first Nicaraguan Issuing Bank under its Trade Finance Facilitation Program (TFFP). Under the TFFP, the IDB extends guarantees to cover letters of credit, documentary collections, promissory notes and other instruments used in the financing of international trade transactions. BANCENTRO’s participation in the TFFP will be instrumental to the Nicaraguan economy, as it will support potential business opportunities resulting from the materialization of CAFTA-DR and other free trade agreements.
About TFFP
Launched in 2005, the TFFP constitutes an effective tool for the IDB to support economic reactivation and growth through the expansion of financing available for international trade activities of Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. The TFFP currently comprises a network of over 60 Confirming Banks belonging to 26 different international banking groups in 20 countries and 11 Issuing Banks in 7 LAC countries with over US$270 million in approved credit lines. To date, the IDB has issued guarantees for over US$30 million in support of approximately 50 individual international trade transactions totaling over US$66 million. For more information on the TFFP, visit www.iadb.org/pri/trade_finance.cfm, or contact Joao Vianei Da Silva at joaov@iadb.org - 202-623-1352 or Andrea Oñate at andreao@iadb.org - 202-623-2373.
About BANCENTRO
BANCENTRO is the second largest bank in Nicaragua and the core entity of Miami-based Central American financial conglomerate of Latin American Financial Services Group (Lafise Group). With trade financing activities representing 12% of assets and a focus on serving the non-traditional export sector, the TFFP is expected to play a significant role by helping BANCENTRO to broaden its international funding base among existing and new international correspondent banks. For more information on BANCENTRO, visit www.bancentro.com.ni.
The Issuing Bank Agreement was signed by Roberto Zamora, President of the Lafise Group and Hiroshi Toyoda, Manager of the IDB’s Private Sector Department at the Annual Meeting in Belo Horizonte.