EIF and the Campania Region sign the first Funding Agreement in Italy under the JEREMIE initiative

The European Investment Fund (EIF) represented by Mr. Scannapieco, European Investment Bank Vice-President, and the Campania Region have signed today in Naples a Funding Agreement to set up a EUR 90m JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) Holding Fund. This is the first ever Funding Agreement under the JEREMIE initiative in Italy.

With this Funding Agreement the Campania Region takes up a pioneering role showing its readiness to promote and to adopt a sophisticated financial engineering approach by concluding the first JEREMIE Funding Agreement in Italy.

The new Holding Fund will provide, through selected financial intermediaries, additional resources in the form of guarantees for portfolio of loans, risk capital and micro-credit to innovative start-ups, micro-enterprises and well-established SMEs in the region. The Fund will be fuelled with matching contributions from ERDF (50%) and from the Region/State (50%) over a period spanning from 2008 to 2013.

 "I am delighted to sign this agreement, which confirms the growing success of the JEREMIE initiative all over The EU and the EIF's commitment in supporting the development of SMEs", said Mr. Scannapieco, European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice-President responsible for operations in Italy, Malta and the Western Balkans, "these new instruments should bridge existing financial gaps facilitating access to finance for SMEs and enhance entrepreneurship in the region".

JEREMIE is a joint initiative launched by the European Commission and EIF to improve access to finance for SMEs in the EU within the Structural Funds framework period 2007 - 2013.  JEREMIE enables the EU Member States and Regions to use part of their structural funds allocations (ERFD and ESF) to support start-ups and micro-enterprises through a wide range of financial engineering instruments such as venture capital, guarantees and micro-loans, together with the EIB Group. Sustainable, tailor-made and revolving financial instruments, aiming to develop and foster the role of entrepreneurship within the EU are key elements of the Lisbon Agenda and help the structural funding to deliver greater benefits to the market. For further information about

About EIF

EIF's central mission is to support Europe's small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance.  EIF designs and develops venture capital and guarantees instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. The EIF total commitment to Private Equity funds amounted to over EUR 4.6bn at end October 2008. With investments in over 290 funds, the EIF is a leading player in European venture due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in high-tech and early-stage segments. The EIF commitment in guarantees totalled over EUR 12.4bn in some 195 operations at end October 200, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees and securitisation actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor. Since its activities began, the EIF has indirectly supported some 810,000 SMEs and has thus tremendously contributed to economic growth and development in Europe.

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