EBRD Launches €1 Billion Risk Transfer Deal To Unlock Private Capital And Boost Lending In Emerging Markets

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched its first major significant risk transfer (SRT) transaction, marking a pivotal development in its strategy to unlock private capital and expand lending across emerging markets. The €1 billion operation, branded “Mosaic,” is structured as a synthetic securitisation that shifts credit risk on a broad portfolio of EBRD assets while the underlying loans remain on the Bank’s balance sheet.

By transferring part of its portfolio risk to private investors and insurers, the EBRD aims to channel fresh capital into countries and projects that often struggle to access private-sector financing. The initiative strengthens the Bank’s capital efficiency and frees up additional capacity to support high-impact investments across its regions of operation.The Mosaic portfolio spans more than half of the economies in which the EBRD invests and covers a mix of sectors, including sustainable infrastructure, corporate financing and support to financial institutions.

According to the Bank, the structure gives investors exposure to a representative portion of its private-sector loan book while ensuring broad geographical and sectoral diversification.The transaction consists of several tranches: an €835 million senior tranche fully retained by the EBRD; a €145 million mezzanine tranche, partially taken up by Dutch institutional investor PGGM and partially insured by AXA XL, AXIS Capital and Liberty Mutual; and a €20 million junior tranche that will remain with the EBRD.

Santander CIB and Clifford Chance served as advisors on the structuring, placement and execution of the deal.As the EBRD’s first portfolio-level risk transfer programme, Mosaic represents a significant step in widening the Bank’s risk-sharing partnerships and enhancing its ability to fund long-term development priorities.

The Bank says the structure also demonstrates how multilateral development banks can mobilise new pools of private capital through innovative balance sheet optimisation tools.Burkhard Kübel-Sorger, the EBRD’s Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, said the transaction creates a new avenue for institutional investors to connect with EBRD portfolios and support investment across its regions.

He noted that risk-sharing mechanisms like Mosaic allow the Bank to deploy its balance sheet more efficiently, accelerating capital flows and enabling greater investment in emerging economies.PGGM’s Chief Investment Officer for Asset Management, Lars Dijkstra, described the organisation’s role as the first anchor investor as an important alignment of long-term sustainability-driven investment strategies.

He said the EBRD’s risk-sharing programme fits closely with PGGM and its client PFZW’s broader investment philosophy, which integrates financial returns, risk considerations and sustainability objectives.Mosaic is fully aligned with the G20-endorsed recommendations from the Independent Review of Multilateral Development Banks’ Capital Adequacy Frameworks, which encourage MDBs to mobilise private capital more effectively, strengthen balance sheet optimisation and draw on transparent data sources—such as the Global Emerging Markets (GEMs) database—to demonstrate asset performance to investors.

The EBRD remains one of the most active mobilisers of private capital in its regions. In 2025, the Bank provided €16.6 billion of its own financing and helped attract an additional €26.8 billion from private and institutional partners, underscoring its expanding role in bridging investment gaps across emerging markets.