Oma Savings Bank uses European guarantee to offer new support to Finnish SMEs

• Oma Savings Bank Plc (OmaSp) gets an EIF guarantee to support around 500 Finnish small and medium-sized enterprises, made possible by the European Guarantee Fund (EGF).
• The guarantee will allow OmaSp to support Finnish companies hit by COVID-19 with €150 million, making sure they can benefit from EU funds to grow their way out of the crisis.
• The backing from the EGF, part of the EU’s €540 billion COVID-response package agreed last year, also allows OmaSp to offer more favourable lending terms to its end clients.

Finnish SMEs can look towards OmaSp for support on their way out of the crisis. Thanks to a guarantee from the European Investment Fund (EIF), made possible under the “European Guarantee Fund” (EGF), OmaSp will originate a portfolio of up to €150 million for Finnish small & midsize companies. With an anticipated average loan size of around €300,000 around 500 Finnish SMEs are expected to benefit from the initiative.

The funding comes at a moment when many European SMEs look for support to deal with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. By channelling guarantees to both traditional and alternative finance providers, the EGF-guarantee helps to make available new, advantageous lending to Finnish SMEs.

The EIF will provide a 70% guarantee on a portfolio of new lending totalling €150 million by OmaSp, while also making it possible for the financial institution to offer enhanced conditions to its borrowers.

Pasi Sydänlammi, CEO of OmaSp says in a comment: “We are happy that EIF has selected us again as their partner and it is a great pleasure for us to continue this co-operation. Entrepreneurs and their enterprises represent a significant part of our growing customer base in Finland. This new guarantee allows us to improve competitiveness and success of Finnish SME’s and especially those hit by COVID-19.”

European Investment Fund Chief Executive Alain Godard added: Thanks to the backing from EU Member States like Finland, the European Guarantee Fund allows the EIF to broaden its reach and support for SMEs across the board. This is one in a succession of operations in Finland under the EGF-initiative, clearly showing that the programme is working and that the post-COVID support in Finland is a welcome hand to get businesses back on track. We’re happy that we can build on the partnership with OmaSp to make this happen.”

Background information:

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments, which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.

OmaSp is a growing Finnish bank and the largest savings bank in Finland based on total assets. About 300 profes-sionals provide nationwide services through OmaSp’s 32 branch offices and digital service channels to 140,000 private and corporate customers. OmaSp focuses primarily on retail banking operations and pro-vides its clients with a broad range of banking services both through its own balance sheet as well as by act-ing as an intermediary for its partners’ products. The intermediated products include credit, investment and loan insurance products. OmaSp is also engaged in mortgage banking operations.

The European Guarantee Fund (EGF) was set up by the EIB Group with contributions from Finland and other EU Member States to shield companies suffering from the COVID-19 crisis. Using €24.4 billion in guarantees, the EGF allows the EIB and the EIF to quickly make loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, equity and other financial instruments available to mostly small and medium-sized enterprises. The EGF is part of the European Union’s recovery package aiming to provide a total of EUR 540 billion boost those parts of the EU economy that have been hit the worst.

Press contacts:

EIB Group: Tim Smit, +352 691 28 64 23, t.smit@eib.org, Follow us on Twitter@EIF_EU

OmaSp: Minna Sillanpää, +358 50 66592, minna.sillanpaa@omasp.fi