Shanghai International Banking & Finance Institute

completed

SIBFI will be set up as a joint venture international banking and finance institute in Shanghai to provide world-class training to Chinese financial institutions, primarily commercial banks. The objective of establishing SIBFI is to help meet the strong and rapidly growing needs in China for acquiring international best practices in banking and finance. This investment will demonstrate IFC’s continued support of the development of China’s banking industry. To date the Corporation has invested in two Chinese banks, with two more investments near completion. In addition, IFC has been providing a variety of technical assistance (TA) and training activities to selected Chinese banks. The proposed project will institutionalize banking training on a sustainable and commercially viable basis. The establishment of SIBFI is very timely, as China’s WTO membership and the expected increase in banking competition have brought about a surge in the demand for training among Chinese banks. There are currently various training activities and initiatives taking place in China, but SIBFI will be the most reputable and professional international training institution. Therefore, this project is expected to have a very strong demonstration and developmental impact.IFC is playing a critical role in this project. It was IFC which brought together two separate initiatives undertaken by Bankakademie on the one hand, and PCBS and SUFE on the other, and combined the two initiatives to work towards a common goal. Through our experience in investing in and providing TA to Chinese banks, IFC has established a good reputation and expertise which are viewed as very important by all other partners of this project. IFC will not only play an important role in setting up SIBFI, but will also play an active role in the strategic development of SIBFI through our director on the board of SIBFI. The establishment of SIBFI will also leverage and enhance the ongoing TA and training activities of IFC and the World Bank in China.