Government Measure
Issued by the Central Guarantee Fund for SMEs (Fondo centrale di garanzia per le
PMI) (the “Guarantee Fund”):
- the guarantee is granted free of charge;
- the maximum amount guaranteed for each company is increased to €5m1;
- the percentage of the coverage of the direct guarantee is increased to 90% of the
amount of each financial transaction subject to prior authorization by the
European
Commission for financial transactions3 with a maturity of up to 72
months;
- for financial transactions which meet the above amount and maturity requirements the
percentage of the coverage for reinsurance is increased to 100% of the guaranteed
amount, provided that the issued guarantees do not exceed the maximum percentage of
coverage of 90%, subject to prior authorization by the European Commission, and they do
not provide for the payment of a premium taking into account the remuneration for the
credit risk taken;
- the guarantee is also issued in the context of a transaction for the re-scheduling of
the original debt of the relevant company at a rate equal to at least 10% of the
outstanding amount of the rescheduled debt, at a rate equal to at least 10%
of the
outstanding amount of the rescheduled debt, with the following percentages: (a) with
respect to the granting of a direct guarantee, at a rate of 80%; whilst
(b) with respect
to the reinsurance, at a rate of 90% of the guaranteed amount, provided
that (in both
cases) the guarantees issued do not exceed the maximum coverage percentage of 80%.
With respect to transactions for which banks or financial intermediaries have agreed
either the suspension of payment of, respectively: (a) the entire amortization
instalments, or (b) of the principal component only, or the extension of the maturity of
the loan (see paragraph below), the duration of this guarantee is extended (we would
assume) accordingly.
Subject to prior authorization by the European Commission, new loans made available to
carry out lending in favor of SMEs whose business activity has been damaged by the
COVID-19 emergency4 are also eligible for the Guarantee Fund’s guarantee, with
a full
coverage (i.e. 100%) with respect to both direct guarantee and reinsurance, to the extent
that such loans: (a) provide for the initial repayment of the principal amount not earlier
than 24 months after drawdown; and (b) have a maturity up to 72 months; and (c) have been
granted for an amount not exceeding 25% of the beneficiary's annual revenues (and, in any
case, not exceeding €25k), as resulting from the last financial statements or from the
last tax declaration submitted on the date on which the guarantee has been requested or -
for companies established after the 01 January 2019, other appropriate accounting
documentation.
The guarantee may also be requested with respect to financial transactions already
carried out and drawdown no longer than 3 months after the date on which the request was
submitted and, in any case, after 31 January 2020. In such cases, the lender must deliver
a declaration to the manager of the Fund certifying the reduction of the interest rate
applied, on the guaranteed loan, to the beneficiary as a result of the supervened issuance
of the guarantee.
Eligibility
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)2 and companies with
no more than 499 employees (based in Italy).
The guarantee is also issued in favour of:
- final beneficiaries that, at have exposures towards the lender classified as “unlikely
to pay exposures”, or “overdrawn and/or past-due exposures” provided that the above
classification has not occurred before 31 January 2020;
- companies which, after 31 December 2019: (i) have been admitted to the composition
with creditors procedure on a going concern basis (concordato in continuità),
(ii) have entered into debt restructuring agreements; or (iii) have submitted to their
creditors a restructuring plan, provided that, on the date of entry into force of the
Liquidity Decree, (a) their exposures are no longer in a condition that would determine
their classification as "non-performing exposures"; (b) they do not have any amounts in
arrears after the application of the measures at hand; and (c) the bank can reasonably
assume that the exposure will be, likely, fully extinguished at maturity.
- banks, financial intermediaries and other entities authorized to carry out specific
loans (see loan features) in favor of SMEs whose business activity has been damaged by
the COVID-19 emergency are also eligible for the Guarantee Fund’s guarantee, with a full
coverage (i.e. 100%).
Applies to requests submitted after 17 March 2020.
Supervising Authority
Economic Development Ministry (Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico)
Applications may be made here.
Availability
From 17 March 2020 until 31 December 2020