Nordea and the EIF are offering a range of guaranteed lending solutions for SMEs to accelerate innovation and the transition to a sustainable economy.
Thanks to EIF guarantees worth €115 million, Nordea can continue supporting customers with access to funding on preferential terms.
The arrangement is backed by the European Union's new InvestEU programme.

Nordea Bank Abp will benefit from a European Investment Fund (EIF) guarantee to improve access to finance for Finnish and Swedish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for activities in two categories: innovation and digitalisation, and sustainability.

Thanks to an InvestEU Innovation and Digitalisation Guarantee worth €55 million, Nordea will be able to keep supporting firms driving innovation and digitalisation. It will improve access to finance for research and innovation-intensive companies, support the uptake of digital technologies among businesses, and promote their digital transformation.

In addition, an InvestEU Sustainability Guarantee worth €60 million will allow Nordea to further promote the transition to a green and sustainable economy. It will support environmentally friendly, green and inclusive investments in areas like decarbonisation, renewable energy and energy efficiency. For Nordea’s small and mid-sized corporate customers, this will mean access to funding at reduced interest rates.

“To date we have provided loans backed by EIF guarantees amounting to approximately €1.4 billion, supporting our customers and the economy as they recover from the impact of COVID-19. The loan guarantees are highly appreciated, and the new EIF guarantees will provide additional opportunities for our customers to drive innovation and growth in the Nordic societies,” said Nina Arkilahti, Head of Nordea Business Banking.

EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt remarked, “We are delighted to sign this new InvestEU guarantee agreement with Nordea. It will provide further EU support to small and medium-sized businesses in Finland and Sweden, letting them benefit from favourable terms and promoting a faster transition to a digital and greener economy.”

European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni added, “Securing Europe’s green and digital transitions must remain among our top priorities. I am delighted that, with agreements like this, InvestEU is providing Finnish and Swedish businesses with the finance they need to fully embrace the green and digital transitions.”

Nordea is a key partner for the EIB Group in the Nordics. Under the previous agreement signed in 2021, the EIB Group offered a guarantee on a portfolio of up to €1.8 billion, freeing up capital for Nordea to issue new loans for sustainable Swedish and Finnish companies. This agreement was backed by the Investment Plan for Europe, the predecessor programme to InvestEU.

Background information

The European Investment Fund is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s SMEs by helping them access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments that specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF furthers key EU policy objectives like competitiveness and growth, innovation and digitalisation, social impact, skills and human capital, climate action and environmental sustainability, and more.no

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable economy. It helps generate additional investments in line with EU policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal, the digital transition and support for SMEs. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme has three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners who invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. This guarantee increases their risk-bearing capacity, mobilising upwards of €372 billion in additional investment.

Nordea is a universal bank with a 200-year history of supporting and growing the Nordic economies — enabling dreams and aspirations for the greater good. Every day, Nordea works to support customers’ financial development, delivering best-in-class omnichannel customer experiences and driving sustainable change. The Nordea share is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki, Nasdaq Copenhagen and Nasdaq Stockholm exchanges. Read more at nordea.com.

Press contacts

European Investment Fund
Kristiina Randmaa, tel.: +352 4379 72894 — k.randmaa@ext.eib.org
Follow us on Twitter@eif_eu
Website: www.eif.org — Press Office: +352 4379 21000 — press@eib.org

European Commission

Flora Matthaes, tel.: +32 229 83951 — Flora.MATTHAES@ec.europa.eu
Website: https://investeu.europa.eu #InvestEU

Nordea
Group Communication, tel.: +358 10 416 8023 — press@nordea.com