The International Finance Corp. has entered a swap to receive floating rates after placing a fixed-rated bond. The U.S. dollar swap was arranged off the back of a USD1 billion, 5.125%, five-year note issue by the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group.
John Borthwick, IFC deputy treasurer and head of funding in Washington, D.C., said IFC swaps all funding, regardless of currency, into floating-rate U.S. dollars. It enters this particular swap once every year (DW, 5/16/05). The swap locked in April 25, when the deal priced and settled May 2. BNP Paribas and HSBC led the deal, which was issued at 29 basis points over U.S. Treasuries.
Borthwick declined to specify the floating rate received or name the counterparties, but said the IFC has swap arrangements with most big A-rated international financial institutions. It will enter about 30 transactions this year.
