Unlocking additional lending
SME loans can place a heavy burden on a bank's regulatory capital, limiting their ability to extend further credit. Securitisation is an effective way to manage this risk - by packaging SME loans into a security, banks can transfer part of the risk off their balance sheet and reduce capital requirements.
Sharing risks on existing loan portfolios
The EIF and the EIB support this process by structuring and guaranteeing securitisation transactions - both cash (true sale) and synthetic. In this way, we help banks, financial institutions and corporates with capital relief and long-term funding so they can generate fresh loan portfolios.
New lending committed by EIB Group counterparts thanks to our securitisation agreements has been amounting to close to €117 billion by end-2024. This is expected to support close to 800,000 businesses with access to finance.
The simplest form of the EIB Group participation in a securitisation transaction is through direct cash investments whereby the EIB or EIF purchases all or parts of selected tranches in the structure, acting as anchor investor. Cash securitisation with embedded (or bilateral) guarantee are advanced forms of such transactions through which investors benefit from the EIF’s AAA rating to enhance the liquidity and transferability of notes.
In this type of transaction, the EIF provides unfunded credit protection by fronting a guarantee on behalf of EIB. Most typically, the junior tranche is retained by the originator. The senior tranche might be guaranteed similarly to the mezzanine piece to increase the overall capital relief and allow for a simpler regulatory treatment of the transaction.
For achievements in 2024, the EIF and the EIB were recognised Best securitisation house in Europe, and also won two deal awards for Best securitisation deal in CEE and Most innovative securitisation in EMEA.
The awarded transactions were our green synthetic securitisation agreement with Inbank in Poland and Europe’s first public solar ABS transaction with Enpal in Germany.
Most recently, the synthetic securitisation transaction of the EIB, the EIF, Santander Bank Polska and Santander Leasing targeting Polish SMEs with a gender finance angle has been recognised with Honourable Mention in the European Transaction of the Year category at the SCI Risk Sharing Awards 2025.
Watch here the full interview with the EIF's Jesper Skoglund - conducted by SCI - on this occasion.
Insights from our expert Jesper Skoglund on trends and the outlook for securitisation - in an interview with SCI.
In a €100 million landmark transaction establishing a new securitisation asset class in Europe, the EIF and the EIB backed the German renewable and solar energy company Enpal.
"Having the EIB and EIF on board is of tremendous value in this first-of-its-kind deal in Europe. We are very proud and hope that together we can boost the adoption of renewable energy in European households" - Viktor Wingert, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Enpal.
This agreement marks the EIB Group’s first entirely green InvestEU securitisation in Poland, unlocking up to PLN 701 million (over €160 million) in new lending to private individuals installing solar panels and heat pumps.
"This risk transfer securitisation transaction has been vital for Inbank’s long-term strategy, enabling us to scale our operations in strategic segments including green financing. Our partnership with the EIB Group reinforces our commitment to sustainability while driving growth and innovation"- Priit Põldoja, Management Board Chairman at Inbank.