ACCESS TO CREDIT
The single axis ERDF 2014-2020 SME Initiative National Operating Programme helps strengthen and develop SMEs in eight southern Italian regions (Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Sicily, Abruzzo, Molise and Sardinia) through new low-interest loans. The programme's main aim is the "Improvement of Conditions of Access to Credit for SMEs in Southern Italy". It reflects an awareness of the deterioration in borrowing conditions over the last seven years which, thanks the prolonged economic crisis, has hit enterprises operating in these regions particularly hard. Italy’s "SME Initiative” is a financial instrument managed by the EIF (European Investment Fund) which sees banks apply to the EIF for the securitisation of portfolios of existing loans. Thanks to the subsequent reduction of the credit risk, banks can then free some of the tied-up capital they are required to freeze by law in order to cover the risk of default or insolvency on the part of their borrowers. They are then required to use the released capital for new loans to businesses. Any financial intermediaries participating in the programme are contractually bound by the EIF to issue new low-interest loans to southern Italian SMEs within three years of securitisation. This financial mechanism enables the SME Initiative to work through the banking system to expand the volume of funding available to SMEs, effectively multiplying the funds allocated to the Programme at least 6-fold. This means that at least 6 Euros of new credit are generated for southern Italian SMEs for every Euro of bank capital freed up. For SMEs The EIF-supported SME Initiative only funds entrepreneurs or SMEs through financial intermediaries, not directly. SMEs seeking funding or a list of financial intermediaries currently working with the EIF should consult: www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/it/index.htm MANAGING AUTHORITY European Investment Fund Address: Luxembourg: 37B, avenue J.F. Kennedy, L-2968 Luxembourg Italy: Via Sardegna 38, 00187 Rome Contact: Head of Region - Iberia, Italy, Malta and Western Balkans - Mandate Management e-mail: SME_Initiative_Italy@eif.org