JEREMIE Sicily: Call for Expression of Interest to select Financial Intermediaries

Call for Expressions of Interest to select Financial Intermediaries that will receive resources from the EIF acting through the JEREMIE Holding Fund for the Sicily Region to implement the Funded Risk Sharing Financial Instrument for Social Finance.

Deadline: 12.12.2011

Download :

• The full text of the call  
• Annex I
• Annex II

Introduction

The JEREMIE initiative is a framework providing a series of coherent actions to promote increased access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. 

The JEREMIE initiative in the Sicily Region is organised through the European Investment Fund (hereinafter, “EIF”) acting through the JEREMIE Holding Fund (hereinafter, “JHF”). Through the JHF, EIF manages funds made available from the European Social Fund (hereinafter, “ESF”) and related public expenditure awarded for utilisation under the JEREMIE initiative.

As part of the Regional Operational Programme PO FSE 2007-2013 (“Programma Operativo Regionale Sicilia FSE  2007-2013”)[1] the competent regional authorities have agreed to dedicate resources to the implementation of the JEREMIE initiative with EIF, in accordance with Article 44 of the Council Regulation (EC) No. 1083/2006[2] (hereinafter, “Reg. 1083/2006”) and in accordance with the provisions of a funding agreement (hereinafter, “Funding Agreement”) entered into on 14 December 2010 between the Sicily Region (hereinafter, “Sicily Region”) and EIF. Relevant rules for implementing Reg. 1083/2006 are set out in the Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1828/2006[3] (hereinafter, “Reg. 1828/2006”).

The cooperation between the Sicily Region and EIF acting through the JHF is governed by the Funding Agreement, which defines the type of cooperation and the operational modalities of the JHF financing expenditure in respect of an operation, as this term is defined in Reg. 1083/2006 (hereinafter, “Operation”) comprising contributions to support financial engineering instruments. EIF acting through the JHF is advised by an investment board, members of which are nominated by the authorities of the Sicily Region (hereinafter “Investment Board”). EIF, acting in its own name through the JHF, for the ultimate benefit of the Sicily Region, operates on the basis of its usual business principles and an investment strategy and planning for the implementation of the JEREMIE initiative.

The JEREMIE initiative is funded by the following Operational Programme for the period 2007-2013, as described in particular in the table below:

This Call for Expression of Interest targets financial engineering instruments referred to in Article 44 of Reg. 1083/2006 and is addressed to bodies or firms, whether public or private, which are interested in receiving resources out of the JHF for the activities in respect of Operations (hereinafter “Financial Intermediaries”). Such activities shall be carried out in accordance with the contractual agreements to be entered into by the JHF and the selected Financial Intermediaries (hereinafter, “Operational Agreement(s)”).

The Financial Intermediaries should express their interest by completing and submitting an Expression of Interest, a template of which is attached hereto as Annex 1.

1.     Definitions and Interpretation[4]

In this Call for Expression of Interest, capitalised terms and expressions shall have the meaning attributed to them below, unless otherwise defined above or the context requires otherwise:

 2.     Holding Fund manager

European Investment Fund, 96 Boulevard Konrad Adenauer L-2968 Luxembourg.

General internet address of the JEREMIE Holding Fund manager (URL): www.eif.org

Under the Funding Agreement, EIF may be substituted in its role as JHF. In the event of such substitution, the Sicily Region, or the entity appointed by the Sicily Region as new JHF, will assume the full discretion and responsibility to perform the tasks of the JHF and to implement the Operations in the Sicily Region, and may take over the Financial Instruments. The Operational Agreements will provide for the possible substitution of EIF, in order to allow the transfer of the Operational Agreements to the successor entity.

3.     Description of the activities expected from the selected Financial Intermediaries

The selected Financial Intermediaries will have to implement a financial engineering instrument briefly described in the table below (hereinafter, “Financial Instrument”). A Financial Instrument shall either be set up as an independent legal entity governed by agreements between the co-financing partners or shareholders or as a separate block of finance within a Financial Intermediary. As provided by Reg. 1828/2006, a separate block of finance shall be subject to specific implementation rules within the Financial Intermediary, stipulating, in particular, that separate accounts are kept which distinguish the JHF resources invested in the Financial Instrument, including those contributed by the Operational Programme, from those initially available in the Financial Intermediary.

It is planned to allocate out of the JHF an amount up to EUR 13.5 million to the Financial Instrument.

See below list of indicative allocation and the relevant Annex setting out the Selection Criteria and the description of the Financial Instrument.

The Financial Intermediaries shall clearly express their interest for a contribution (in terms of amount requested) of minimum EUR 1 million and may express their interest for a contribution up to the total amount allocated by the JHF to the Financial Instrument.

The indicative capital allocated to the Financial Instrument, as well as the amounts available for contribution by the JHF to the selected Financial Intermediary, may be changed as necessary, at EIF’s sole discretion, particularly if the funding available changes during the JHF implementation process or the demand for the Financial Instrument so requires.

To be noted that joint ventures and/or consortia (e.g. consorzi o Associazioni Temporanee di Imprese (ATI)) can express their interest as long as (i) at least one member of the joint venture or consortia is a credit institution authorised to carry out business in Sicily under the applicable regulatory framework, (ii) at least one member is an organisation such as business support providers, Non-Profit Organisations, local association supporting social sector; and (ii) they indicate/nominate one coordinating entity as a contractual counterpart for EIF for the entire term of the Operational Agreement (in case of selection), and  (iv) all members of the joint venture or consortia assume joint and several liability for all applicable obligations. Such Applicants are required to submit one, joint Expression of Interest.

Financial Intermediaries are encouraged to provide mentoring services to the relevant SMEs in line with their proposal submitted under the Expression of Interest.

Such services may be provided by the Financial Intermediaries either directly or via cooperation agreements with appropriate entities (e.g. Non-Profit Organisations).

Should the Applicant provide coaching, mentoring or guidance to SMEs activities, this will constitute an added value to be taken into account in the Quality Assessment Criteria.

4.     Expression of Interest

A template for the Expression of Interest is attached hereto as Annex 1, and can also be found at the following addresses:[ www.eif.org or www.eif.org/calls_for_expression_of_interest/index.htm  or: www.regione.sicilia.it. ]

The Expression of Interest includes the Applicant’s identification, the project description, the supporting documents, the declaration of absence of conflict of interest and the statement regarding situations of exclusion.

Until no later than 21 October 2011, the Applicants may request clarifications regarding the Call for Expression of Interest or the nature of the Financial Instrument. Such requests must indicate the Call for Expression of Interest reference number and the name of the Applicant and shall be submitted in English via email (no more than 10 MB per each email) to:

Regional Business Development Unit, European Investment Fund, info.rbd@eif.org

Requests for clarifications from Applicants shall not receive individual replies. Instead, answers to all requests for clarifications received within the relevant deadline will be published together in a clarification document to be posted on the website: www.eif.org.

EIF will, in principle, not contact any Applicant prior to the Deadline, unless it considers it necessary to clarify issues of a mere technical nature. However, should EIF discover any errors, inaccuracies, omissions or any other type of clerical defect in the text of the Call for Expression of Interest before the Deadline, EIF will correct the text and inform accordingly.

5.     Language

The Expressions of Interest, including the submitted documents, shall be in English.

6.     Submission of Expression of Interest

The Expressions of Interest shall be submitted on or before the Deadline both by (i) e-mail (no more than 10 MB per each email) and (ii) registered mail or professional courier service. The Expressions of Interest sent by registered mail or professional courier service shall consist of a closed single package, and shall contain the Expression of Interest, together with its attachments, in paper form and in removable electronic storage medium (e.g. CD-ROM).

The Deadline for the submission of Expressions of Interest is 12 December 2011.

The Deadline applies (i) in case of e-mails to the reception by EIF and (ii) in case of registered mail or professional courier service to the date of dispatch proven by the post office stamp or a dispatch receipt.

The Expressions of Interest shall indicate the reference number of the Call (No. JER-050/1) and the name of the Applicant and shall be sent to the following address:

Postal Address:

European Investment Fund
Attention: Regional Business Development Unit
96 Boulevard Konrad Adenauer
L-2968 Luxembourg
LUXEMBOURG

The outer envelope (package) shall indicate the following:
“Expression of Interest - Reference number of the Call (No. JER-050/1) - Not to be opened by the reception – To be passed without opening to Regional Business Development Unit”).

E-mail Address:

Attention: Regional Business Development Unit
info.rbd@eif.org

Prior to the Deadline and in the same manner as specified above, the Applicants may change or amend their Expressions of Interest by clearly indicating the parts to be changed or amended.

Prior or after the Deadline and in the same manner as specified above, the Applicants may withdraw their Expressions of Interest.

After the Deadline, an acknowledgement of receipt will be sent to the relevant Applicants by EIF via e-mail, which shall state the following:

• Unique proposal identifier (Expression of Interest number);
• Reference number of the Call for Expression of Interest;
• Confirmation that the Expression of Interest was received before the Deadline.

The acknowledgement of receipt shall not be construed as a declaration of completeness of the Expression of Interest and the documents submitted therewith, nor any kind of assessment of the same.

7.     Selection process

When selecting Financial Intermediaries, EIF is committed to respect fundamental principles, such as:

i)                 equal treatment,

ii)                 non-discrimination,

iii)                confidentiality and

iv)                transparency.

The Expressions of Interest will be examined by EIF, on a comparative basis, using professional analysis and judgment, according to the Selection Criteria.

EIF will reject those Expressions of Interest which do not comply with the Eligibility Criteria. Financial Intermediaries, whose application is rejected because of non-compliance with any of the elements reflected in the statements regarding situations of exclusion (Appendices 4 and 5 to Annex 1 hereto), may not present themselves for consideration in subsequent Calls for the Expression of Interest unless it is specifically evidenced that the reason for the exclusion no longer exists.

The expiration of the Deadline shall not prevent EIF, in limited cases if deemed necessary, from requesting and receiving from Applicants clarifications on issues of a mere technical or formal nature, provided that such clarifications shall neither provide an opportunity to the respective Applicants to unduly improve their applications nor otherwise distort the competition between the Applicants.

Applicants who are not excluded according to the Eligibility Criteria will go through EIF’s selection process based on the Quality Assessment Criteria. The further selection based on the Quality Assessment Criteria, and the due diligence process, follows the standard procedures and guidelines applied by EIF to its business. The evaluation of proposals at this phase will be conducted under competitive terms.

In any phase of the selection process, EIF reserves itself full discretion to consider Financial Intermediaries and no Applicant has any claim or other right or may expect to be ultimately selected for financial support by the JHF.  

Any negotiation of terms and conditions of Operational Agreements by no means entails any obligation for EIF and/or the JHF to enter into such Operational Agreement with the relevant Financial Intermediaries.

Financial Intermediaries which do not receive contributions from the JHF are informed accordingly; the reasons for their Expression of Interest being rejected may be clearly communicated to them upon request.

Those Applicants, whose Expression of Interest is rejected, shall have the right to submit a written complaint by e-mail and registered mail or professional courier service, to the same address used for the submission of the Expressions of Interest above, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the letter of rejection. Any complaints will be dealt within the framework and in accordance with the EIB Group complaints policy (further information can be found on www.eib.org).

8.     Operational Provisions

The Financial Intermediaries, with which Operational Agreements will be eventually signed, shall be required to comply with the EIF’s anti-fraud policy, available on the website of EIF (www.eif.org), and with the relevant monitoring, reporting, publicity and auditing obligations required by the EU regulations, applicable to ESF, and by the Funding Agreement. Such obligations are briefly described in the relevant Financial Instrument description documents, and will be defined in the relevant Operational Agreement.

ANNEXES

Annex 1.     Expression of Interest

Annex 2.     Funded Risk Sharing Financial Instrument for Social Finance: Description andSelection Criteria

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