Information & Guidance

Through bank loans, SME lending programmes, equity investments and support for other financial services (such as insurance and leasing), the EBRD engages with various providers of financial services to develop the financial sectors in our region and to foster entrepreneurship. These are known as financial intermediaries.

The nature of this type of intermediated financing means that we delegate responsibility for the appraisal and monitoring of transactions - as well as overall portfolio management - to the financial intermediary.

The financial intermediaries we work with are expected to comply with the Performance Requirements set out in the EBRD’s Environmental and Social Policy that apply specifically to them, PR2 Labour and Working Conditions, PR4 Occupational Health and Safety, and PR 9 Financial Intermediaries. Ensuring that their transactions fulfil our environmental and social requirements are part of those responsibilities.

The objectives of our Performance Requirements for financial intermediaries are: 

• to establish a practical way in which the Bank’s mandate to promote socially and environmentally sustainable development can be implemented in its financial intermediary's investments, in line with best international practice in the commercial financial sector
   
• to enable financial intermediaries to manage social and environmental risks associated with their business activities and to promote good social and environmental business practices amongst their clients
   
• to promote good environmental and human resource management within financial intermediaries

Read policy