On September 28, 2018 IPE reported that Germany’s Evangelische Bank has targeted $200m (€174m) for a new loans fund investing in small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in emerging markets.
The bank seeks to raise the money over the next two years, from its clients and externally – from other German and Austrian institutions. The minimum investment is €250,000.
“Together with the German development bank DEG, the protestant churches will be investing in local banks in emerging markets, which then offer loans to local SMEs under certain conditions linked to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria.
Additionally, DEG will advise the emerging market banks on new strategies, ESG issues and lending policies to promote more sustainable financial markets in each of the countries.
‘We have developed our own rating tool based on the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG) to assess the progress of banks we have invested in,’ said Marina Dietz, director and vice president of DEG.
‘This tool is now also used by other development finance banks,’ she added.”
You can read the article on the IPE internet site.