Guarantee Fund for SMEs (Law 662/96)

Who it is aimed at

• SMEs, as defined by the European Commission, included in Recommendation 2003/361 / EC
• Professionals belonging to any sector, with the exception of those excluded on the basis of the operational rules of the Fund, in relation to any type of transaction, both short and medium-long term, for liquidity and for investments.

How it works

CDP is committed to strengthening the capital of the Guarantee Fund for SMEs through counter-guarantee initiatives, using public funds from the EU or resources contributed by public or private entities, with the aim of supporting access to public guarantees for Italian companies.

The guarantee of the Fund is granted, for up to a maximum of 80% of the loan.
The Fund guarantees each company or professional a maximum amount of 2.5 million euros, which can be used in one or more transactions until the set ceiling is reached, without no limit on the number of transactions that can be made, in line with the limitations established by the European Community rules on state aid.
The guarantee percentage and the maximum guaranteed amount were increased on a transitional basis by Decree Law No. 23 of 8 April 2020 ("Liquidity Decree") to facilitate access to credit for companies in the Covid-19 emergency crisis period.

In order to increase the volume of guarantees issued by the fund in line with the public resources used, CDP has activated a number of key counter-guarantee initiatives for this instrument. These are based on the use of funds made available by the European Commission or by the European Union Member States, and managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF):

• In 2017, CDP carried out an initial activity in the fund’s favour, using the resources from the European COSME programme, guaranteeing 80% of a portfolio of new operations originating from the latter, for a total value of 3,110 million euros.
• In 2018, a second counter-guarantee operation, which uses the resources of the European "Creative Europe” programme  for a portfolio of new operations originating from the Fund, again at 80%, for a maximum original value of 200 million euros, which in 2020 was increased to 350 million euros, reaching a total of more than 2,200 companies working in the creative-cultural sectors.
• In June 2019, in light of the success of the first operation supported by the COSME Programme - through which CDP guaranteed a portfolio of 2,488 million euros in less than 20 months, supporting around 47,000 SMEs, which thereby had access to financing of around 4.2 billion euros - CDP launched a new COSME operation that allowed it to issue a new 80% cover for the Fund for a portfolio of new operations worth up to 3,750 million euros.
• In 2020, thanks to the use of the so-called "Covid-19" window, launched by the European Commission for the COSME programme, CDP increased the value of the Fund's guaranteed portfolio from 3,750 million euros to around 4,532 million euros, supporting access to loans for about 64,000 SMEs.
• In 2022, CDP launched a guarantee operation under the European Guarantee Fund (EGF) programme, in order to activate around 15 billion euros in new loans with favourable terms from the banking system, for 90,000 Italian SMEs affected by the pandemic crisis. CDP will counter-guarantee 80% of the portfolio of new guarantees up to a maximum amount of 10 billion euros. In turn, CDP will benefit from a counter-guarantee granted by the EIF, from EGF resources.

CDP is also authorised to set up "special sections" in the Fund, using public or private resources, with the aim of maintaining the guarantee percentage at the maximum level set by the law.

For further detailed information, please see the Guarantee Fund for SMEs institutional website: www.fondidigaranzia.it

How to apply

To apply to the Guarantee Fund for SMEs, the company or professional can contact:

• a bank to apply for funding, at the same time requesting that the fund’s direct guarantee. The bank will then be in charge of the application;
• to an accredited Confidi that guarantees the financing activity in the first instance and requests the fund’s counter-guarantee.