October 3, 2019.- The seminar “Implementation of the sustainable finances protocol – Incorporating experiences,” organized by the Latin American Association of Development Financing Institutions (ALIDE) and Banco Provincia (Bapro), was held today in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its aim was to focus LAC development bank actions on creating financial products and services with environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.

The meeting offered a venue in which ALIDE’s various financial institution members in Argentina —Bapro, BICE, Banco Nación and Banco Ciudad— were able to share their experiences with regard to international initiatives of both development finance institutions and international organizations.

The bankers also discussed the status and expectations of other actors involved in boosting sustainable finances: investors, regulators and the public sector. In that way, efforts were made to create more specific and better targeted financial products to serve the financial needs of SMEs and thereby establish industry sustainability as an essential principle.

The seminar was broken down into four blocks in which the following subjects were discussed: experiences and approaches taken in the region toward implementing national sustainability policies; the existing financing initiatives with ESG criteria among development banks; challenges and opportunities in measuring investment risks in projects of that kind; and the role of regulators in project leverage and their relationship to regional and multilateral institutions.

Foremost among the eminent persons who spoke on those topics were the ALIDE and Bapro President, Juan Curutchet; the President of Banco Ciudad, Javier Ortiz Batalla; the President of BICE, Francisco Cabrera; the Association’s Vice-Chairman and President of Corporación Financiera de Desarrollo (Cofide) of Peru, Carlos Linares; the Chairman of the National Stock Exchange Commission (CNV) of Argentina, Marcos Ayerra; the President of Banco de la Nación Argentina, Javier González Fraga; and ALIDE Directors Chesron Isidora (Executive Director, Curaçao Development Corporation), María Jeannette Ruiz (President, Banco Nacional de Costa Rica) and Sandra Gómez (President, Financiera de Desarrollo Territorial de Colombia), among others.

Argentina’s Experience
Eighteen banks in Argentina recently signed the Sustainable Finances Protocol, an initiative whereby they commit to incorporate better practices and international policies among their business aims and to boost projects with environmental, social and governance-related criteria, thus making this the first sustainable finance strategy in the banking industry. The seminar organized by ALIDE is in line with this important context of change.

About ALIDE
ALIDE is the community of financial institutions that generates solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its main objective is to contribute to the economic and social development of the region, through good practices in the financing of development, the promotion of its members, through cohesion activities and strengthening the participation of financial institutions in the process regional economic.

Press Contact
Hanguk Yun
Responsable de Comunicación Social de ALIDE
Teléfono: +511-203-5520 |: Ext: 226
comunicaciones@alide.org
www.alide.org