A little over a year ago, the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act was signed into federal law, aiming to reform and strengthen US development finance capabilities by creating a new federal agency to help address development challenges and foreign policy priorities of the United States.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will be a modern, consolidated agency that brings together the capabilities of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and USAID’s Development Credit Authority, while introducing new and innovative financial products to better bring private capital to the developing world.
Most importantly, the BUILD Act will allow this new DFC to make equity investments, which is unprecedented in the United States.
At the Impact Investing Legal Working Group (IILWG) DC Chapter’s September session, panelists Stephanie Bagot (Senior Attorney, FINCA Impact Finance), Amy Bailey (Associate General Counsel, Investment Funds, OPIC), John Beckham (Chief Investment Officer, MicroVest) and Patricia Sulser (Independent Consultant, Former Chief Counsel, IFC) discussed the nuances behind the BUILD Act.