Fox Williams LLP has recently advised Asian Development Bank (ADB) on a further term loan in the amount of up to US$10m to Inecobank CJSC. This follows on from its December 2011 advice to ADB on loans totalling US$55m to Ardshininvestbank CJSC, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank and Ameria Bank.
Established in 1966, the main aim of ADB is to alleviate poverty in the Asian Pacific region. Headquartered in Manila, Philippines, ADB has 28 resident missions and 3 representative offices in Tokyo, Frankfurt, and Washington. ADB targets its financing on projects which aim to deliver a material economic and development improvement to local populations.
One of Inecobank’s stated aims is to contribute to the process of reducing poverty in Armenia. It has advanced a significant proportion of its loan book to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), often overlooked by larger international banks and organizations.
Partners Paul Taylor and Richie Clark again led the Fox Williams team. Aram Poghosyan of Grant Thornton’s Armenia office also advised ADB on the transaction.
Paul Taylor said “It was a real pleasure to carry out this further loan work for ADB. The negotiations with Inecobank went smoothly. Grant Thornton provided expert advice on Armenia and the ADB team was very focused on targeting the loans to get the maximum economic benefit for the people of Armenia.”
Shannon Seet, an investment specialist at ADB, commented “The SME Finance Program is ADB’s largest project to support Armenia’s financial sector to-date. The Program was designed to expand the banks’ lending activity to Armenia’s SME sector which is critical to driving inclusive growth, increasing employment, and reducing poverty in the country.”
