This includes a $30 million loan by Citi and JPY13 billion ($0.09 billion) loan by JICA. This high impact social finance offering that Citi arranged for IndusInd Bank is expected to improve financial access for farmers and boost capital investment in the agricultural sector in India, the firm said in a statement yesterday.

IndusInd Bank, a private financial institution, is present in key agro centres across rural and semi urban locations of India. This project will support the efforts of IndusInd Bank to strengthen its lending to the agricultural sector by leveraging its presence in rural areas, the firm said. In this new collaborative agreement, Citi acted as the co-financing lender, arranger, coordinator, and facility agent.

“This social financing to IndusInd Bank will be used by farmers to purchase farm equipment, crops, seeds, and fertilizers, as well as by small agricultural supply chain service providers. This transaction, in which Citi collaborates with JICA, marks our first structured co-financing arrangement to support India’s agricultural sector,” K Balasubramanian, head of corporate bank for Citi in South Asia covering India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, said.

The agreement highlights Citi and JICA’s support for strengthening food security in the country through funding the agricultural sector and sustainable food systems.

The agricultural sector is an important part of the Indian economy, accounting for approximately 17 per cent of GDP and 45 per cent of employment. As the need to raise agricultural productivity to improve farmers’ incomes increases, there is also an urgent need to improve access to finance to stimulate capital investments in the agricultural sector, the firm continued.

Citi has been engaged in JICA's overseas investment and loan projects since 2018. Earlier this year, Citi concluded a loan agreement worth $100 million with JICA and BRAC Bank of Bangladesh. Citi said it also supported a project for affordable housing finance for low-middle households in Indonesia and a microfinance project for women entrepreneurs in Mexico.

BNP Paribas
 Securities Services business has bolstered its digital offering to alternative fund managers and their investors with the release of two enhanced solutions, CapLink Investor and CapLink Private. 

The platform gives clients secure access to digitalised reporting, ESG insights and data analytics capabilities in a bid to enhance transparency and support investment-making decisions, the firm said in a statement.

CapLink Investor is a platform for fund managers, investors, and authorised contacts, offering information and insights across their fund holdings. With a user-friendly interface available in English and simplified Chinese, CapLink Investor is suited for hedge fund and liquid alternative managers, single hedge funds, fund of hedge funds and their investors, the firm continued.

CapLink Private offers digital reporting through data visualisation, end-to-end workflow management, and risk and performance analytics capabilities for non-listed investments, the firm said. It is designed to enable private management companies, diversified asset managers and asset owners who manage private capital investment programmes to have an up-to-date view on their investments such as private equity, private debt and infrastructure in direct funds or fund of funds structuration.

Clients are able to monitor real-time data to unlock the full potential of their funds and portfolios, with advanced analytics providing transparency on investments and their performance. CapLink Investor and CapLink Private are available on Securities Services’ client portal NeoLink.

To meet clients’ needs, Securities Services co-created the offering from inception, leveraging the design thinking and lean startup methodologies of the bank’s Digital Innovation Lab and its partnership with AssetMetrix – a leading fintech specialising in non-listed investments.

Patrick Hayes, global head of alternative investors, Securities Services, BNP Paribas, said: “As markets evolve, we’re delighted to be rolling out our next-generation platform CapLink to alternative clients and their end investors.”