Competitiveness and Innovation
Framework Programme (CIP) - EU Guarantees

We provide our financial intermediaries (banks, leasing companies, mutual guarantee institutions, etc) with capped guarantees (EU Guarantees) partially covering their portfolios of financing to SMEs. These EU Guarantees are provided under the SME Guarantee Facility, which is funded by the European Union under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP 2007-2013). We manage the CIP on behalf of the European Commission.

The overall objective of CIP is to improve access to finance for the start-up and growth of SMEs and promote investments in innovation, including eco-innovation across the participating countries.

The SME Guarantee Facility comprises four "windows" (business lines):

• Loan Guarantees cover portfolios of SME mid- to long-term debt finance targeting SMEs and focuses on investment financing
• Micro-Credit Guarantees cover portfolios of micro-credits to encourage financial institutions to provide financing to microenterprises, especially start-ups
• Equity Guarantees cover portfolios of investments in SMEs in the seed and start-up phases; Quasi Equity Guarantees are available to cover portfolios of mezzanine financing. Equity and Quasi-Equity Guarantees aim to help SMEs improve their financial structure
• Securitisation guarantees to support securitisation transactions so that financial institutions may mobilise additional debt financing for SMEs