Thanks to the collection made by Acri among the foundations of banking origin in favor of the populations affected by the earthquake, between 24 August 2016 and 18 January 2017, in the regions of Lazio, Marche, Umbria and Abruzzo, and the collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo, the small businesses of those territories will be able to receive a total of up to 15 million euros in loans for investments intended for the restoration or reconversion of the business activity, or for liquidity needs.
This will be possible thanks to a Fund fed by the Foundations and set up at Intesa Sanpaolo, which will thus finance, at particularly low rates, up to 100% of the costs incurred by the beneficiary, with a maximum of 30 thousand euros. The maximum duration of the loan will be 60 months for loans intended to support investments; 36 months to support liquidity.
The initiative was presented today in Rome by: Giuseppe Guzzetti, president of Acri; Carlo Messina, managing director and chief executive officer of Intesa Sanpaolo; Vincenzo Marini Marini, president of the Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno Foundation. The goal is to facilitate access to credit for small production and commercial realities, which may have greater difficulties especially due to the effects of the earthquake in offering the necessary guarantees to obtain a loan. The resources made available by the Foundations of banking origin and destined for the Fund have been entrusted by Acri, with a specific memorandum of understanding, to the Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno Foundation, which in recent days has entered into an agreement with Intesa Sanpaolo which regulates access to financing guaranteed by the Fund.
The company interested in a loan will submit an application to a branch of the Intesa Sanpaolo group and for information to the Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno Foundation. The Bank will carry out the assessment and pass the necessary resolution, communicating it to the Foundation. Each loan granted by the Bank will be assisted by a guarantee drawn from the Fund for an amount equal to 80% of the loan. The amount of the Fund, currently equal to 3 million euros, may be increased by reason of any accruing interest. “Together on the front of many emergencies and with their contribution, they have committed themselves above all to keeping the social and economic fabric of the affected places cohesive, directing disbursements towards punctual and targeted post-emergency initiatives, identified on the basis of joint assessments with the Foundations operating on territories involved. Also in this case we have chosen to operate in this way, directing our support towards those small production and commercial realities that are the connective of local economies - he declared Giuseppe Guzzetti, president of Acri -. To this initiative in favor of the communities hit by the earthquake, another one is added, carried out as part of our plan to combat child educational poverty carried out, together with the Government and the Third Sector, thanks to a special Fund fed by the Foundations of banking origin, for three years from 2016 to 2018, with 120 million euros per year: the four regions affected by the earthquake will receive 2,5 million euros, specifically reserved for them, which will be added to the resources they will be awarded through the standard tenders fed by the Fund itself”.
Carlo Messina, managing director of Intesa Sanpaolo, commented as follows: “Above all the small businesses that best represent the typical production of these places, need resources to relaunch investments and be able to restart. It is our task to accompany and facilitate a recovery path: the initiative commissioned by Acri sees us fully participating with a driving role. We will support access to credit at low rates, until we fully cover all the liquidity needs envisaged by the companies' development plans. A further and significant contribution, the one presented today, which adds to the important interventions that our Group has already activated in favor of the populations of Central Italy affected by the earthquake".
“Of the anthropological model thanks to which the presence of inland communities has been maintained and values, traditions and
cultures that otherwise would have been lost – he said Vincenzo Marini Marini, president of the Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno Foundation -. The operation presented today is indeed an act of solidarity and sharing, but it also constitutes strong support, through aid to economic activities, to keep those communities united and cohesive. I therefore think that the affected communities will appreciate it not only for the financial aid, but also for the cultural signal it represents in terms of attention to community ties and the need to be able to continue, after this tragic earthquake, in a path of economic dignity. Heartfelt thanks go to all the foundations of banking origin who wanted to support the initiative”.
