ICO MID-CAP INVESTMENT PLATFORM

Funded or unfunded linked risk-sharing transaction with full delegation to Instituto de Credito Oficial (ICO) and/or financial intermediaries to support eligible mid-caps under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).

The operation consists of an Investment Platform (IP) developed in cooperation with ICO to promote, over a period of three years, investments carried out by Spanish SMEs and mid-caps. EIB and ICO will sign an IP agreement that will detail the institutions' cooperation and will include: (i) a risk sharing window for larger SME and mid-cap projects; EIB will provide credit risk protection on a loan-by-loan basis to guarantee an underlying mid-cap portfolio originated by ICO (and possibly eligible financial intermediaries); (ii) an intermediated window for smaller SME and mid-cap projects; ICO will finance projects with access to EIB funding.

In accordance with the Bank's policy to ensure that sub-loans comply with the EU acquis, in particular in the fields of environment and public procurement, the Bank will require such intermediary institution to take all the requisite measures to ensure that the environment and procurement procedures carried out by the final recipients under the guaranteed portfolio will comply with the relevant EU environment and procurement legislation and the applicable national legislation, provided that it is in conformity with EU rules.

Final beneficiaries will be requested to comply with applicable national and EU legislation, as appropriate.