In Washington
Lotte Pang, IFC
Phone: +1 202 758 4290
Email: LPang@ifc.org


In Honduras:
Ildoira Bonilla, Banco Atlantida
Vice Presidenta de Negocios Internacionales
Phone: + 504 232 2854
Email: ibonilla@bancatlan.hn


Washington, DC, April 22 2009—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, announced today that Banco Atlántida in Honduras has joined IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program, which will help the bank access a global trade network and enhance its support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country that import or export goods.  

Banco Atlántida, the second bank in Honduras to join IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program, has already begun to use its trade lines for a pre-export financing transaction totaling $5 million, which will support international trade in food products such as sugar.

Guillermo Bueso, Banco Atlantida’s CEO, said, “We are pleased to be a part of the IFC Global Trade Finance Program, which will enable us to better support our trade clients. This new relationship will boost economic development by enhancing the potential for businesses in Honduras to engage in international trade.”

Marcos Brujis, IFC’s Country Manager for Honduras, said, “The IFC Global Trade Finance Program will allow Banco Atlántida to increase its trade finance business in the region by establishing relationships with banks in countries that export to or import from Honduras. These linkages are critical for the enhancement of trade financing in the country and throughout the Central American region.”

Since launching the Global Trade Finance Program in the region in February 2006, IFC has issued $1.25 billion in guarantees to facilitate trade flows with Latin America and the Caribbean. The program supports trade with emerging markets worldwide and promotes flows of goods and services between developing countries. IFC provides guarantee coverage of bank risk in emerging markets, allowing recipients to expand their trade finance transactions within an extensive network of countries and banks.

The network of issuing banks for Latin America and the Caribbean has expanded to 36 banks in 15 countries including: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, St. Lucia, and Uruguay.

More than 40 percent of the guarantees issued benefited local small and medium-sized businesses and supported interregional trade flows between emerging market nations. Antonio Alves is the IFC Head of Trade Finance for Latin America and the Caribbean (email: AAlves1@ifc.org). For more information, visit www.ifc.org/gtfp.

About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

About Banco Atlántida
Banco Atlántida is the leading company of the largest independent financial group in Honduras, serving individual consumers, as well as small and large enterprises with a full range of banking and financial services. With the use of innovative technology and world-class standards, the Bank provides over 400,000 customers with industry-leading products and services, and offers unparalleled convenience in Honduras, through the largest network of branches in the country.   Fitch has issued an A+ rating for Banco Atlántida. For more information, visit www.bancatlan.hn.