The NSA Group, the largest financial intermediary for SMEs in Italy, and Banca Valsabbina, which has supported the growth and economic development of the area in which it operates for over one hundred years, celebrate 10 years of partnership, reaching 1 billion euros in loans to Italian small and medium enterprises.
They celebrate this important milestone on Friday 1 December in Milan with a conference entitled “Credit and occupational development. What positive levers can access to credit activate to stimulate employment?” (Museum of Science and Technology - 10.30 am - with speakers, among others, the Undersecretary of the MEF Pier Paolo Baretta, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Martina Colombo, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, and Guglielmo Belardi, Head of Promotion and Development of the Fund of Guarantee Banca del Mezzogiorno – MedioCredito Centrale).
The collaboration between the two companies - born in the province of Brescia and then developed in Italy - has strategically benefited over the ten-year period from the Central Guarantee Fund, which has made it possible to obtain guarantees for around 700 million euros and to satisfy the needs of Italian SMEs to give continuity to their business, investing in the territory and creating employment.
These loans have not only allowed companies to grow, but to create value in the territories in which they operate. Indeed, the NSA observatory on SMEs revealed that the 5.000 financed companies recorded (as an aggregate figure) a growth of 15% in employment against a national average according to ISTAT which indicates a decrease of 0,17%.
An extraordinary result, especially if we consider that since 2007 there have been many liquidity crises that the economic system and consequently the Italian SMEs and SMEs have had to face.
"These numbers confirm that growing our businesses translates into the future and development of the country," comments Gaetano Stio, President of the NSA Group. “Banca Valsabbina has contributed to giving a strong acceleration to our business model, which has brought value to all the Provinces in which it has been applied, thanks to a careful assessment of the risk for each company and the strategic recourse of the Central Guarantee Fund . The 5.000 companies financed, in fact, have created growth not only in their balance sheet, but also in employment”.
The NSA Group, in order to provide access to credit for Italian micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, has developed its own financial rating model in collaboration with the Catholic University of Milan which has made it possible to obtain a default rate of transactions lower than the 1% (analysis carried out in collaboration with PriceWaterhouseCoopers). This model, linked to a suite of tools for determining an effective business plan, allows for the best assessment of present and future credit risk.
This model has allowed Banca Valsabbina to develop its business support activities, initially gaining leadership in Brescia and its province, and then acting as an interlocutor for economic activities (and also for families) in 8 Italian provinces.
"Banca Valsabbina, also with the collaboration of the NSA Group, has managed to expand into other provinces quickly and effectively thanks to its flexibility, classic of small banks", explains Marco Bonetti, deputy general manager of Banca Valsabbina. “We have grown in an organic and healthy way, also using the Central State Guarantee Fund. Today, in fact, we operate through a territorial network that has 70 branches (51 in the province of Brescia, 9 in the province of Verona and 10 among those in Trento, Vicenza, Mantua, Modena, Monza Brianza and Milan) employing around 550 employees and managing over 7 billion euro of masses”.
By trusting local businesses and thanks to the correct use of credit instruments, the NSA Group and Banca Valsabbina have been able to grow over the course of their history, becoming not only cases of excellence in the Brescia area, but established realities at a national level.
