The Bank can often be seen as having two clients on PPP projects. Initially, it is the public-sector Promoter, where the EIB may help to develop the PPP structure and a financing strategy. Following the calls for tender, it is the bidder who becomes the Bank's client. Bank staff handled this transition well, but it does add another dimension to their responsibilities.
Similarly, the Bank can have multiple clients during the bidding phase. All potential bidders have to be treated equally, which might mean developing financing proposals for a number of bidders in parallel. The Bank has no formal system of Chinese Walls or protocols on how the potential conflict of interests should be handled. The evaluation found that potential conflicts were handled on a case-by-case basis, rather than established processes, but all relationships were handled correctly and professionally.
The previously-mentioned complexity of PPPs makes them more demanding than traditional loans on staff resources, in terms of workload and duration. This was managed well where staff were devoting most of their time to PPPs, but was more difficult for staff working on a mixture of PPP and conventional projects.
Given the existence of third-party guarantees for the EIB's loans, at least during the periods of highest risk, none of the projects evaluated are likely to leave the EIB itself at significant risk of loss. This is particularly important in the case of projects where the Bank may, at some point, be exposed to direct project risk, which is dependent on the project satisfying predefined financial, technical and economic conditions.