BHD Leon Loan to Women Led PYMEs

repaid

The proposed Loan to Banco Múltiple BHD León, S.A. (“BHDL”) will be for up to US$50 million or its equivalent in Dominican Pesos (“DOP”) to support the growth of small and medium sized businesses (“SMEs”) in the Dominican Republic (“DR”). In particular, the Project seeks to promote access to finance for women-owned SMEs in the DR through BHDL’s Mujer Mujer Program, which provides a comprehensive approach to serving the female market, including specialized loan and non financial services for women-owned SMEs.BHDL has embraced the market opportunity to support the growth of women-led businesses and taken a leadership role in developing a value proposition of products and services to better provide access to finance and growth opportunities for women in the DR. BHDL’s Mujer Mujer Program, launched in 2014, provides a wide range of adapted products, including tailored working capital and investment loans. In recognition of the fact that women-owned businesses seek additional non-financial products and benefit from access to mentoring and business advisory services, BHDL’s comprehensive offering—developed in part through the Global Alliance for Banking on Women (“GBA”)—includes health and business insurance, credit cards with embedded benefits deemed most attractive to women clients, and networking events, to effectively support the overall growth and success of its SME clients.The IIC Loan will be a senior unsecured financing of up to US$50 million comprised or its equivalent in DOP. The proposed IIC Financing to BHDL would specifically target women-owned SMEs and seek to a target client number representing a larger share of the BHDL SME portfolio. The tenor of the IIC Loan is expected to be for up to 5 years. The IIC Loan will be complemented by Advisory Services, which will support BHDL’s efforts to become a true market leader and emblematic role model for gender targeted lending, through the Swiss-based EDGE Certification. If obtained, the EDGE Certification would recognize BHDL’s efforts to implement ambitious gender equality measures as part of its corporate culture and adopt practices that mirror its equitable product offering for women clients.