Banco Ri de la Plata S.A.

MIGA issued a $109.3 million guarantee to Banco Santander, S.A., for its shareholder loan to Banco Rio de la Plata S.A. (Banco Rio).

The contract highlights MIGA's increasing cooperation with private insurance providers in extending investment guarantees to foreign investors. Sovereign Risk Insurance Ltd. of Bermuda and Zurich-American Political Risk of the United States reinsured MIGA for $96 million. The contract was MIGA's first project using the Cooperative Underwriting Program (CUP) with Sovereign and its second with Zurich-American. The guarantee covers Banco Santander's loan against the risks of transfer restriction and expropriation.

The loan will be used to develop and expand a mortgage facility, Superhipoteca, which is expected to facilitate the construction, purchase and rehabilitation of residential property in Argentina and have significant upstream and downstream employment effects in the construction industry.