SAN FRANCISCO -- Bank of America announced today that it has closed a $125 million U.S. commercial paper program for Unibanco, Brazil's fourth-largest privately owned bank in terms of lending operations and net worth.
The transaction marks Unibanco's entry into the U.S. commercial paper markets. It plans to use the funding for trade financing.
Unibanco's is the eighth U.S. commercial paper program arranged by Bank of America for Latin American issuers in the last two years, for a total of $1 billion. The Unibanco program is supported by a letter of credit issued by WestLB of Germany, and the commercial paper is rated A1-plus by Standard & Poor's and P1 by Moody's Investors Service.
Bank of America syndicated the credit enhancement facility to a group of 11 banks that includes Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones SA, Banque Francaise du Commerce Exterieur, ING Bank NV, and NationsBank as co-lead managers.
