Wildey, St. Michael, Barbados, West Indies
OVERVIEW
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is a regional financial institution established by an Agreement signed in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1969. CDB's mission is to reduce poverty and transform lives through sustainable, resilient and inclusive development.
Dr. Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon
Dr. Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon is the sixth President of Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the regional development finance institution based in Barbados. He was elected at a Special Meeting of the CDB Board of Governors held on January 19, 2021 for a five-year term, and assumed office on May 4, 2021. He is an alumnus of University of Southampton and has over 30 years of experience in economic development and has directed macroeconomic and financial policy support to government authorities in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia and the Caribbean. He is supported by a strong management team.
Management Team
MEMBERSHIP
CDB has a total of 28 member countries, including 19 regional borrowing members, 4 regional non-borrowing members, and 5 non-regional, non-borrowing members.
Regional Borrowing Shareholders
Regional Non-Borrowing Shareholders
Non-Regional Non-Borrowing Shareholders
Operations
CDB’s main goals are to promote sustainable economic development and to reduce poverty. Its primary financial objective is to earn adequate operational income to maintain financial strength and to sustain its developmental activities. The operations of the Bank are divided into two categories, ordinary operations and special operations.
Ordinary Operations
Ordinary operations are financed from the Bank’s Ordinary Capital Resources (OCR) which comprises share capital, borrowings raised in the capital markets, lines of credit from commercial and other multilateral institutions and internally generated equity.
Special Operations
Special operations are financed from the Special Funds Resources (SFR), comprising the Special Development Fund (SDF) and Other Special Funds (OSF).
SECTORS
CDB provides loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to Members to help them achieve their development goals. This is supported through investments in economic and social infrastructure; education and training; agriculture and rural development; private sector development; water and sanitation; environmental management; climate resilience; energy efficiency and renewable energy; and disaster risk management.
FINANCIAL POSITION
ANNUAL REPORTS
The Annual Report of the Board of Directors to the Board of Governors reviews CDB’s operations, programmes and initiatives, human resources management, external relations and partnerships, and financial management, and includes the financial statements and reports of the independent auditors and appendices. The Report also reviews economic developments in the Bank’s Borrowing Member Countries and Regional sector performance.
Financials
All figures are as of December 31, 2022 unless otherwise specified.
CDB’s strong liquidity position reflected in compliance with its monitoring threshold at net 3 years funding requirement or 40% of undisbursed commitments, whichever is greater. CDB has been in compliance with these thresholds in keeping with Management’s decision to maintain high liquidity levels.
- Lines of credit from multilateral institutions
- Market borrowings
- Equity from shareholders
- Retained earnings
- Contribution from shareholders to Special Funds
- Contingency funding from highly rated international banks
Capital Markets & Borrowings
The Bank completes its requirements based on its liquidity needs.
Our Funding Strategy
- To offer investors a diversified product mix
- To borrow resources at rates below those which BMCs can access with their balance sheets
- To approximate the term of borrowings to that of its loans
Bonds
Bonds are issued when liquidity is needed.
Overall Treasury Portfolio Distribution by Region
ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT
CDB has a dedicated independent Office of Risk Management function, responsible for managing the entire enterprise risk management position of the Bank. The function is led by a Chief Risk Officer reporting directly to the President and Board of Directors.
EXPOSURE MANAGEMENT
CDB actively manages its exposure through active credit surveillance, application of limit controls and monitoring of exposures.
LOAN PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION
CDB maintains its efforts to diversify its portfolio by targeting highly rated BMCs for new business growth, while also reducing exposure to challenged credits via the target review and cancelling of aged, undisbursed balances.
An overview of the loan portfolio as of December 31, 2023 is represented in the graph below.
PILLAR III RISK DISCLOSURE
CDB has undertaken to discharge our enhanced risk disclosure reporting obligations by ensuring our risk positions and developments are captured in our annual reports and website on a regular basis.
Governance
CDB has strengthened its governance significantly with improvements in its Internal Audit capacity; expansion of the role of its Board Assurance Oversight Committee to include risk, independent investigations and compliance; approved a Strategic Framework for Integrity, Compliance and Accountability and established an independent office in that regard.
Sector Snapshot
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
CDB has been scaling up support to accelerate the implementation of projects and programmes to improve access to clean and affordable energy across the Caribbean.
Climate Action
CDB has been working to improve environment and social safeguard issues, disaster risk reduction and climate resilience in its BMCs.
Education
CDB’s investments in education focus on sustainable outcomes through quality and education systems enhancement.
Partnerships
CDB, in collaboration with development partners, has been working to accelerate Regional development. Recent programme and project partnerships include the Canadian Support to the Energy Sector in the Caribbean Fund; European Investment Bank Climate Action Line of Credit; and the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund.
Rating agency reports
The major rating agencies Moody’s and S&P have assigned a ‘Aa1/Stable’ & ‘AA+/Stable’ rating respectively to CDB’s OCR, the bank’s primary operations.
Disclaimer: This investor update has been prepared by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for information purposes only. CDB makes no representation, warranty, or assurance of any kind, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of any of the information contained herein. This investor brief may include information relating to certain CDB securities. Any such information is provided only for general informational purposes and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any CDB securities. The securities mentioned herein may not be eligible for sale in certain jurisdictions or to certain persons.