Looking forward to the July 15th meeting with the Bank of Beijing.
From the June 25th PR "A follow-up meeting with the Bank of Beijing has been confirmed on July 15th, to begin implementing the pilot check 21 program as previously announced. It is anticipated that Esprit will begin seeing revenue from this endeavor early in the 3rd quarter."
About Bank of Beijing
Founded in January 1996, Bank of Beijing is a joint-stock commercial bank with a shareholding structure of overseas investors and numerous well-known enterprises. It has 125 sub-branches across Beijing and a business outlet in Tianjin. In 2005, Bank of Beijing’s introduced ING Group and IFC as its overseas strategic investors. In 2006, Bank of Beijing opened its branch in Tianjin, marking the significant step of trans-regional development. Its operational and management indicators have all reached international levels. In the Global Top 1,000 Banks List issued by The Banker in 2006, Bank of Beijing ranked 262 in terms of total assets, the highest among more than 110 domestic city commercial banks in China. The ranking means the bank has became a midsize international player in the banking industry.
***More info about Bank of Beijing***
Bank of Beijing is also joining IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program, both as a confirming bank and an issuing bank, and becomes the first city commercial bank in China to do so. By providing risk coverage for challenging trade transactions, the program will help Bank of Beijing expand its international trade finance business, especially with banks and customers in emerging markets, and as a result, further facilitate trade flows among developing countries.
About IFC
IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, promotes open and competitive markets in developing countries. IFC supports sustainable private sector companies and other partners in generating productive jobs and delivering basic services, so that people have opportunities to escape poverty and improve their lives. Through FY06, IFC Financial Products has committed more than $56 billion in funding for private sector investments and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC Advisory Services and donor partners have provided more than $1 billion in program support to build small enterprises, to accelerate private participation in infrastructure, to improve the business enabling environment, to increase access to finance, and to strengthen environmental and social sustainability. For more information, please visit www.ifc.org.
About the IFC Global Trade Finance Program
The IFC Global Trade Finance Program supports trade with the emerging markets worldwide. It aims to increase the developing countries’ share of global trade and promote South-South flows of goods and services. The $1 billion program provides guarantees and pre-export cash advances to banks in more than 60 countries. With its global mandate, the program plays a key role in advancing a worldwide network of bank partnerships to finance trade under risk coverage provided by IFC. For more information, visit www.ifc.org/gtfp.
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