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Mandated arranger RZB has signed banks into a US$40mn syndicated trade finance facility on behalf of Bank Caspian JSC.
The transaction, which is Bank Caspian’s third appearance in the euroloan market, was increased from an initial launch amount of US$25mn following a substantial oversubscription during the syndication process.

The syndicate consists of an aggregate of 23 lenders from 16 nationalities and underlines again the wide geographical range of institutions that are willing to lend to Bank Caspian.

Co-arrangers were AKA Ausfuhrkredit; Demir-Halk Bank (Nederland)  and The Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China.
Lead managers comprised Bankgesellschaft Berlin; National Bank of Egypt (UK); Indover Bank; and Wachovia Bank. 

Managers were Abanka Vipa; Adria Bank; American Express Bank GmbH; Bank Austria Creditanstalt; Bank of Montreal; Bank of Overseas Chinese; BankMuscat; Bre Bank; Credemlux-Credem International (Lux); Dresdner Bank; First International Merchant Bank; Israel Discount Bank of New York; Mashreqbank; Parex banka; and Trade & Development Bank of Mongolia.

The tenor is364 days (extendable for another 364 days), with a bullet repayment. The margin is 2.75% per year. Fees remain undisclosed. Takes of US$5mn, US$3mn, US$2mn and US$1mn were on offer.
Bank Caspian, in its present form, was established in December 1997 following a merger of Closed JSC Bank Caspian (formerly Albaraka Bank) and KazdorBank.

The bank operates under a general banking licence issued by the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan as well as licence of Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Regulation and Supervision of Financial Market and Financial Organizations to conduct operations provided by banking legislation in Kazakh tenge and foreign currency No 245 granted on March 1, 2004.

On August 1, 2003 the bank was reregistered as a joint stock company based on requirements of the Kazakh statutory legislation.
The bank ranks among the Top 10 banks in Kazakhstan in terms of total assets. Its head office is in Almaty and it currently maintains 34 branches (2003: 18 branches) and 46 outlets throughout the country.
As of December 1, 2004 the bank’s equity amounted to US$65.5mn (US$85.6mn according to BASEL). The bank’s assets according to Kazakh Accounting Standards (KAS) at the end of 2003 were US$381mn and as of December 1, 2004 its assets amounted to US$545.5mn. In addition the bank placed more than US$140mn of seven-year subordinated bonds in the local market throughout 2003-04.

Bank Caspian was one of the first banks in Kazakhstan to adopt the International Accounting Standards (IAS).  It was also one of the first banks to become a member of the Depositary Insurance Fund. The National Bank of Kazakhstan has recommended Bank Caspian as a secure depositary of the country’s pension funds.