IFC EMSP

MOBILIST provided a critical equity investment in the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Emerging Markets Securitisation Programme (EMSP), which listed securitised notes listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The groundbreaking EMSP is the first of its kind in the development finance industry and effectively creates a new investible asset class by enabling mainstream investors – such as pension funds – to invest in multilateral development bank (MDB) assets for the first time. The securitised notes listed on the London Stock Exchange were backed by IFC loans to companies in low- and middle-income countries to address global challenges such as economic growth and poverty reduction.  

MOBILIST’s investment was critical to the inaugural EMSP transaction. The programme co-invested $25 million in the $60 million equity tranche alongside the IFC and MOBILIST, creating the first-loss buffer that gave confidence to the rest of the capital stack. This equity enhances the risk profile of the issued notes, making them investment grade, and hence enables institutional investors to participate in the transaction. 

The IFC’s and MOBILIST’s co-equity investment sent a strong signal: that development-focused capital can play a catalytic role in making innovative structures work for the private sector. The impact of the transaction extends beyond a single issuance, demonstrating that emerging-market loans can be transformed into investable securities that resemble familiar products for investors. 

By offering investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of emerging market credits across sectors and regions, EMSP challenges assumptions about the risk profile of these markets. 

Read a more detailed case study on the EMSP on MOBILIST’s new securitisation website and explore more MOBILIST Research on Scaling Securitisation in Development Finance.