This entity is a combination development bank and a green bank (DGB) and is called UNIEX Bank & Trust Ltd and can be found at https://uniexbt.com (site under development). 

A development bank is a national or regional financial institution designed to provide medium- and long-term capital for productive investment, often accompanied by technical assistance, for the purpose of encouraging economic development in primarily poorer regions. They provide loans and grants to fund projects that support social and economic development, such as the building of new roads or providing clean water to communities.

A green bank¹ is a public, quasi-public, or nonprofit financing entity that leverages public and private capital to pursue goals for clean energy projects that reduce emissions. The Inflation Reduction Act 2022 created a historic new program to be administered by the EPA: the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This first-of-its-kind program will provide competitive grants to green banks to mobilize financing and leverage private capital for clean energy and climate projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions with an emphasis on projects that benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities, furthering the the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to environmental justice.^2,3,4 

While commercial banks seek to make profits on loans and other financial services, the goal of development banks is to issue grants and low-cost loans to improve the economic conditions of impoverished or developing areas. Unlike commercial banks, development banks and green banks do not seek to maximize profits for their shareholders.

Instead, they prioritize development goals, such as ending extreme poverty and reducing economic inequality, or funding all manner of green projects that help to address climate change. They often lend at low or no interest or provide grants to fund projects in infrastructure, energy, education, environmental sustainability, and other areas that promote development. Such would be the case for our development/green bank.

Historically, the majority of development banks around the world have been focused on poorer countries. In recent times, the U.S. has not formed a development bank to address such issues right in our own backyard. (i.e., “The cobbler’s kids go without shoes”). The U.S. 117th Congress became aware of the problem, and introduced four different bills to create some form of a development bank for domestic objectives, but none were enacted.

We intend to remedy that. One of the primary functions of our development bank would be to address a wide spectrum of troubled assets in every state, as detailed in this document Troubled Asset Acquisition Program. Those assets range from all manner of consumer debt (mortgages, car loans, student loans, business loans, etc.), seized properties and blighted properties.

One way to carry on such activities entails obtaining a bank charter, pretty much a universal requirement to conduct banking anywhere in the world. A bank charter provides a license to accept depositor’s money, and to create money when they make loans and provide other banking services. 

However, given that the purpose of a development bank and/or a green bank is to address problems that normal commercial banks avoid, (i.e., a benefit to society rather than shareholders), , such entities do not have to be banks in the normal sense. They do not have to have depositories and do not need to provide typical banking functions, and therefore do not require a banking charter. An equivalency of deposits accounts can be established with a statutory trust. UNIEX Bank & Trust Ltd. (UBT) is a Connecticut Statutory Trust.

Universal Exchange LLC (a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization) is the trustee for UBT. In addition, because our DGB is owned/managed by a non-profit organization, there are numerous sources of new and ongoing capital that may be used to support the functions of such a DGB, representing a completely different risk profile than a standard commercial bank might present.

Finally, because the Public Benefit Bank will be the issuer of all state currencies and is the trustee to UBT (the DGB), the DGB will be able to distribute both dollars and the complementary currency in fulfillment of the entire Sustainable Communities Framework in that state. And where that currency is sold throughout the state, the PBB will retain 50% of the revenue generated by those sales, which provides the both the PBB and DGB with substantial dollars to use for the various SCF programs throughout the state.

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¹ While the word “banks” is included in the name, green banks do not have depositories and do not provide typical banking functions. We use the term “green banks” because it has been used in several state and local programs. Programs in other states and localities may use different names but have the same role as a green bank as described here (e.g., infrastructure authority, clean energy fund, clean energy accelerator)

² What are green banks? https://usafacts.org/articles/what-are-green-banks/

³ EPA – Green Banks https://www.epa.gov/statelocalenergy/green-banks

⁴ NREL – Green Banks https://www.nrel.gov/state-local-tribal/basics-green-banks.html