Federfidi Lombarda sign EUR 225m Guarantee deal under CIP

Federfidi Lombarda is a regional guarantee institution which provides guarantees benefiting SMEs in the artisan and industrial sectors in Lombardy, through partner mutual guarantee institutions which share risk with banks and also obtain favourable borrowing conditions for businesses. 

During this period of financial turmoil and an increasingly cautious lending market the timing of this new guarantee agreement is even more significant. Federfidi Lombarda, through recent mergers, has become the sole counter-guarantee institution in the region and the main guarantor for local guarantee institutions, which in turn provide guarantees benefiting SMEs. SMEs are at the centre of this mutual guarantee system, being members of the local mutual guarantee institutions. 

This transaction also allows the EIF to renew its cooperation with the mutual guarantee system in Lombardy, following prior successful partnerships under the Multiannual Programme (MAP, CIP's predecessor), and to reach a large number of final beneficiaries. 

Background information:

The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), which spans from 2007 to 2013, has been put in place to boost European productivity, innovation capacity and sustainable growth, whilst simultaneously addressing complementary environmental concerns.

Within the framework of the CIP, the European Investment Fund (EIF) has been allocated EUR 1.1bn to be split between venture capital - with the High Growth and Innovative SME Facility (GIF) - and guarantees - with the SME Guarantee Facility (SMEG).

Under the SMEG, financial institutions are encouraged to enhance access to finance for SMEs.  The facility offers an excellent tool to allocate additional financing volumes for those SMEs that would not otherwise have access to resources and financial engineering instruments because of the increased lending risk entailed.  As such, The SMEG complements and broadens EIF's own product offering.

The EU CIP SMEG Facility gives the EIF the opportunity to play an essential role in supporting sustainable job creation and entrepreneurship in European SMEs. 

 About EIF

The EIF central mission is to support Europe's SMEs by helping them to access finance.  EIF designs and develops venture capital and guarantees instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.

For further information, please contact David Yormesor, d.yormesor@eif.org