WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a quarterly meeting March 20, the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) approved a $200 million financing guaranty to Wells Fargo in support of the U.S. Bankers’ Guaranteed Lending Facility, a lending program designed to assist U.S.-owned small and medium sized enterprises (SME) doing business in countries where OPIC is authorized to operate.
OPIC’s support will help Wells Fargo to expand their SME lending into emerging markets, and create a positive development impact while generating stable financial returns.
“This commitment confidently extends OPIC’s enduring support for emerging-market SME lending, a sector critical to job creation and economic growth in developing countries,” said Elizabeth Littlefield, OPIC’s President and CEO. “Our previous commitments to Wells Fargo’s SME efforts have proven both productive and impactful to development. I’m eager to see the entrepreneurial innovation around the world for which this renewed OPIC support unlocks the potential.”
“Since 2007, Wells Fargo has worked with OPIC to help support U.S. businesses globally,” said Sanjiv Sanghvi, head of Wells Fargo’s Global Banking Group. “We continue to build upon our longstanding relationship with OPIC as we serve the growing international needs of our middle market customers.”
This marks OPIC’s second commitment to Wells Fargo’s SME lending activity, following a successful $100 million program with the bank which began in 2007 and subsequently produced award-winning loans to U.S. entrepreneurs. OPIC looks forward to further support of impactful investment in developing markets resulting from today’s commitment to Wells Fargo.
OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution. It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets, catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad. OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.
Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. To date, OPIC has supported more than $200 billion of investment in over 4,000 projects, generated an estimated $76 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 278,000 American jobs.
