Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB) and Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on ship finance to strengthen their partnership.
The new agreement reshapes the collaboration pact they first signed in 2014 in which they established a joint venture ship finance company, Sea Bridge Finance, to invest $1bn over the following three years.
According to a notification from the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority it was deregistered on 27 January this year.
Under the new MOU, signed in April, the new partnership will be known as Sea Bridge II.
The pair will make a formidable combination as individually they already both rank among the leading shipping lenders in the world.
Credit Agricole CIB said the partnership between the two banks is “naturally complementarity in terms of the clients that they serve and the geographies in which they operate.”
It said Sea Bridge II would deepen their relationship by identifying new and increased opportunities in areas which can “bring real value and competitiveness to clients”.
The partnership will have an emphasis on sustainable shipping and decarbonisation projects.
“As the shipping sector accelerates its trajectory towards decarbonisation, the support of experienced finance providers like Credit Agricole CIB and SMTB will be instrumental in arranging the funding solutions required for the sector to transition to fuel-efficient ships,” the French lender said.
“With this in mind, Sea Bridge II will be at the forefront of the marine energy transition and includes specific initiatives in fast growing sub-sectors including gas-to-power, offshore wind and carbon shipping & storage."
SMTB’s ship finance has traditionally been focussed on the Japanese market but more recently it has broken out to become more prominent internationally.
Under the original agreement, the pair already have had some success in combining their expertise in ship finance in major projects.
Both lenders are also keen on promoting sustainability initiatives in shipping. Both have signed up to the Poseidon Principles for Financial Institutions.
The programme was established to monitor the performance of member banks’ portfolios to assess alignment with the International Maritime Organization’s decarbonisation goals.
