On April 12, 2019, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private arm of the World Bank Group, launched the IFC’s “Operating Principles for Impact Management” (Impact Principles), having been adopted by over 60 entities, including several multilateral development institutions, major banks, corporations and insurance companies, asset management firms, and others.
The stated objective of the Impact Principles is to establish a common discipline and market consensus around the management of investments for impact and help shape and develop this nascent market.
Like the World Bank’s Equator Principles for project finance1, the IFC’s Impact Principles were based on the IFC’s own internal performance standards and other impact management practices.
A group of organizations and individuals provided input and participated in the development of the Impact Principles through a series of consultations over a 12-month period.
At the IFC launch event, the first adopters (listed on page 9) of the Impact Principles were announced.
1 About which we have written previously. See: https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/perspectives-events/publications/2012/08/revised-draft-equator-principles-ep-iii-released-f. Currently, the third version of the Equator Principles (EPIII) is in effect, having been adopted in June 2013; however, the Equator Principles Association is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of EPIII with a goal of producing “EP4” later this year.