Astris Finance is a subsidiary of European commercial bank Dexia Crédit Local, the world leader in public and project finance. We help public and private sponsors in Latin America and the Caribbean develop and finance their infrastructure projects. The firm has two complementary focuses:

• We work with private firms involved in the provision of infrastructure. We advise them on the financial structuring and implementation of their project, which may include:

  • The definition and establishment of the project's regulatory and contractual framework
    
    
  • The design of the most efficient financial structure
    
    
  • The actual placement of such a structure in the target markets

  Where appropriate, we design and set up tailor-made enhancement structures and seek to attract non-conventional sources of funding. Often, our efforts result in more leveraged projects and swifter financial closing.

• We also work with state and local governments. We advise them on how to tap local and international financial markets to fund their investment programs, and we help them manage their physical infrastructure services, including attracting private investors and operators where appropriate. We also work on "upstream" problems involving ways to establish or improve their creditworthiness, enhance their income earning potential, and rationalize their expenditure per unit of service provided. Often, our involvement results in improved creditworthiness and facilitated access to investment funding.

Astris Finance is an investment banking firm. It earns fees from performing transactions for its clients - structuring and arranging debt and/or equity financing, designing innovative ways to involve private investors and professional operators in managing public services, as well as handling all aspects of concession structuring and contract award. This means that when a client elects to work with us on a specific project, we become a dedicated partner to our client and have a direct incentive to achieve the defined objective in the most effective manner.

The company's staff is comprised of experienced professionals who combine three specificities:

• An intimate knowledge of Latin America and its potential sources of market and nonmarket funding.
  
  
• A deep understanding of the public policy aspects of infrastructure projects, e.g. tariff structure and subsidies, social and environmental aspects, and regulatory systems.
  
  
• A strong background in public and project finance and a thorough knowledge of market practices.
  
  

And, of course, we draw on the worldwide expertise of Dexia Crédit Local, whenever it benefits our clients.