new funding opportunities for about 800 Italian SMEs and midcaps, above all for investments according to sustainable criteria. This is the goal of the new Italian platform of origin dei secured loans, aimed at creating an alternative financing channel for SMEs to facilitate the disbursement of loans and the related access to the capital markets. It is called Igloo and it is the first securitization project of loans guaranteed by the State supported by the European Investment Fund in Italy, promoted with non-bank operators, the MOL Group and the NSA Group and the loans are disbursed and managed by subsidiaries of the MutuiOnline Group. Finally, Banca Finint participates as sponsor and master servicer.
In detail, the EIF will contribute through an investment of 50 million euros in an operation of securitization which will provide liquidity to Italian companies. The remaining 120 million euros will be provided by the initiative's partners and by Italian institutional investors. NSA will use the platform to process part of its 37,5 million euros dedicated to "green" loans, guided by the criteria for climate transition and environmental sustainability.
Furthermore, each loan in the securitized portfolio will benefit from the public guarantee of the Guarantee Fund for SMEs, and from the climate action and environmental sustainability criteria defined by the European Investment Bank and applied by the EIF.
The initiative is already operational and able to "timely select deserving companies to help them obtain funding", reads a note, paying particular attention to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict which has generated various difficulties for companies exporting to these countries.
Jasmine Vigliotti, Vice President of the EIB, commented: "Thanks to this operation, we will make financing available and accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and support the recovery.". While Alessandro Tappi, Chief Investment Officer of the EIF, underlined how Italian companies will be able to benefit from additional funds to promote their green and sustainable investments. And finally, Francis Salemi, CEO of the NSA Group added: "Aid to businesses must also pass through these new channels of access to credit for SMEs, in order to guarantee maximum support as already happened during the pandemic period".
