Manila, Filipino (April 4, 2005) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will assist the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) achieve its poverty reduction and development goals through a $ 20 million loan from the public sector, a private sector loan of up to $ 50 million, and a political risk guarantee of up to an aggregate maximum liability of $ 50 million approved today in support of the Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project. [PDF]

“I am pleased that the Asian Development Bank Board has approved this important project,” said ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda. “This project will improve the living standards of one of the poorest countries in the region. We recognize that there are risks involved and we have studied these very carefully with the Government and other development partners. That is why we are involved. We believe that the risks can be managed and that these will be better managed by our participation, “he said.

“While progress has been made, seven of every 10 people in the Lao PDR still live on less than $ 2 a day. Approximately 80% live in rural areas with little or no access to basic social services. Sustainable hydropower is one of the few options the country has for long-term growth and greater poverty reduction, “said Kuroda.

The public sector loan will be provided to the Government for the purchase of shares in the Nam Theun 2 Power Company Ltd (NTPC), which develop, construct and operate a 1070-megawatt trans-basin diversion power plant on the Nam Theun River, a tributary of the Mekong River in central Lao PDR.

The private sector loan will be provided directly to NTPC, which is owned by a consortium comprising EDF International of France (35%), the Government of Lao PDR (25%), electricity generation SA Public Company of Thailand (25%), and Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd also of Thailand (15%).

The political risk guarantee, to be issued by the Asian Development Bank in favor of commercial lenders that offer direct loans to NTPC, will cover both Lao and Thai political risks.

“This project represents a critical element of the Government of Lao PDR’s long-term development plan,” said Rajat M. Nag, Director General of Asian Development Bank’s Mekong Department. “The revenue generated will help the Government improve the lives of some of the poorest in Asia.”

“The Lao PDR is well positioned in terms of natural resources and physical location to develop hydroelectric power as an important source of growth and generate revenue for the Government to implement poverty reduction and environment initiatives conservation, “he said Nag.

Revenues of the project will help the Government to improve livelihoods, rural infrastructure, irrigation systems, water supply, education and health services in many parts of the country. Importantly, the project will help preserve the Nakai-Nam Theun National Protected Areas, one of Southeast Asia’s few intact tropical forests and wildlife habitats.

The total estimated base cost of the project is approximately $ 1.25 billion. The project will export about 5354 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually to Thailand and provide revenue to the Lao PDR through taxes, royalties and dividends. It generated about $ 1.9 billion in foreign exchange earnings to the government 25-year period of operation, is expected to start in 2009. An additional 200 to 300 GWh of electricity is supplied each year to consumers in the Lao PDR.

“The participation of the ADB is actively seeking to catalyze significant amounts of long-term debt in U.S. dollars of commercial lenders to support the power sectors of Thailand and Lao PDR. Under current market conditions, NTPC would be unable to mobilize the required amount of foreign currency debt without securing the support of Asian Development Bank and others, “said Robert Bestani, Director General of Asian Development Bank’s Private Sector Operations Department.

Revenues from the project will also help implement measures for poverty reduction programmes and environmental conservation as shown in the National Government for Growth Strategy and the eradication of poverty and intend to improve the quality of life of the people of the Lao PDR. The project will generate more than 4000 job opportunities in the country during the construction period.

Four documents provide detailed information on mitigation and management measures proposed to deal with possible social and environmental impacts of the project. These documents are the Environmental Assessment and Management Plan, Plan for Social Development, Social and Environmental Management Framework and the operational plan for the protection of the Nakai-Nam Theun National Protected Areas * and the Summary of Environmental Impact and Social assessment. [PDF]

Interested parties have raised concerns about the Government’s experience with projects of this size and questioned the Government’s ability to effectively and transparently implement the project. These concerns are recognized by international financial institutions to support the project, including the Asian Development Bank, as an important and significant risks to the long-term success of the project.

The Asian Development Bank believes that these risks are manageable and with careful supervision. With this in mind, the project has been designed with a series of mechanisms to minimize those risks, including

* Multiple technical assistance to help the government improve its overall public spending management program
* Oversight through audits and surveys of public spending to control the use and effectiveness of government revenue from the draft agreement for priority programmes, as well as the technical review of the international dam safety review panel
* Financing long-term, as well as technical assistance for conservation programs as part of the total project cost
* NTPC commitments to provide funds and to share management and operational responsibility for the results of environmental and social mitigation and compensation programs, including resettlement in the plateau and in areas downstream
* Definition of roles, responsibilities and authorities of the central, provincial, district and government agencies of the Government regarding the projects related to the activities and programmes
* An Agenda for transparency in monitoring and evaluating the results of the project including the publication of the results of evaluations of projects, progress reports, and monitoring data.

“The approval of this project marks a milestone in the Government of Lao PDR development planning. We are convinced that if managed properly and implemented effectively, which has great potential for achieving substantial and lasting benefits for people of Lao PDR, “Mr. Kuroda said.

Mr. Kuroda of the Asian Development Bank has committed to working closely with the Government of Lao PDR and other development partners to ensure the proper implementation of the project through effective monitoring and supervision.

The $ 20 million to the Government of Lao PDR, the Asian Development Bank ordinary capital resources, has 30 years’ time, including a grace period of six years. Interest is determined in accordance with the Asian Development Bank’s LIBOR-based lending facility.

The Asian Development Bank is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia-Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development and good governance. Established in 1966, is owned by 63 members, with 45 of the region.

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Criminal investigations have been initiated against 17 companies in the fallout of the subprime mortgage collapse, the FBI disclosed Tuesday afternoon.

The list of investigations into corporate frauds focused on the subprime mortgage lending practices of major banks and companies has grown since January, when the bureau announced a probe of 14 mortgage lenders.

While the bureau does not comment on which companies are under investigation, two Justice Department officials confirmed to ABC News reports in the Wall Street Journal last week that Countrywide Financial is under investigation.

FBI and Justice Department officials declined to comment on any open cases after the recent problems of investment bank Bear Stearns, JP Morgan Chase who bailed out earlier this week by buying the company.

But in an interview with the Reuters news service Tuesday, Neil Power, FBI section chief of the Economic Crimes Unit, alluded to a possible probe, saying: “Common sense would indicate that we want to see something that big. ”
“The problem is that banks are not doing their due diligence,” said Power.

Although Justice Department officials declined to specifically address a possible investigation Bear Stearns, the investment bank said in a Jan. 29 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that federal investigators were looking into the operations of its hedge funds, that at a very high investment and loans subprime debt obligations.

The presentation noted that Bear Stearns “has also been contacted and received requests for information and documents from various federal and state regulators and law enforcement authorities” about one of those funds, which both the Department of Justice and Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Office are investigating.

“The company has received inquiries from various regulatory and governmental entities related to subprime mortgages, mortgage securitizations, collateralized debt obligations and synthetic products related to subprime mortgages. The company is cooperating with the requests,” says the documents.

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Cleveland, March 18 / PRNewswire / - Two of the top 10 commercial lenders (1), Principal Global Investors (No. 3) and completion Realty Advisors (No. are used OnBase (R), a document management software solution developed Hyland Software Inc., electronically to capture and store their loan documents.

With a portfolio of services 9 billion dollars and an annual loan production of $ 2.5 million, culmination Realty Advisors’ continued growth can not be sustained with the processing of paper.

To view each client individually and find the best solution for each service their loans 2000, and over 500 new loans each year culmination chose OnBase to provide electronic access to thousands of pages included in the file of each loan. The use of OnBase, completion has also improved employee productivity and better communication between the company and eight branches remote Cleveland home office by allowing several employees to access the same file simultaneously.

“We knew that our company was and where he is expected to go, and we could not get there without moving to automation,” said Marty Clancy, senior vice president and manager of national services culmination. “We could only meet our projected figures to minimize our role, and OnBase helped us to do that and more.”

Principal Global Investors, an entity of Principal Financial Group based in Des Moines, Iowa, manages over U.S. $ 248.3 billion in assets and is the fourth largest institutional real estate manager in the United States based on tax-exempt assets under management.

Principal Global Investors chose OnBase to electronically store large quantities of correspondence, documents, mortgages, agreements to provide services, electronic records and other financial documents of the company accumulates in the process of doing business.

OnBase also manages, processes and guarantees the safety of Principal Global Investors’ documents. By working together and create as many business-critical documents, Principal Global Investors scans an average of 12000 documents into OnBase every day. Principal Global Investors initial cost savings following the implementation of OnBase was $ 165000.

“OnBase has been defined by our organization as an enterprise application of criticism. This important state is driving our current disaster recovery plan,” said Heather Mylan-Mains, senior analyst at Principal Global Investors business. “OnBase is continuing to grow our organization in a great rhythm. We are adding new departments in almost once a week.”

“Commercial loans tend to generate most of the documentation of any type of loan, commercial and financial lending institutions to continue to grow and succeed, they must find ways to effectively manage their documents and data,” said Jason King, director Financial Services for Hyland Software.

“Through OnBase, end users can easily capture and import documents electronically, regardless of their original format, and retrieve information from the basic platforms of loans in real time.

In addition, OnBase helps in the process automation, giving lead to faster decisions on approvals, which makes “- straight through” transformation into a reality of origin through its service. “

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