Financial intermediaries and ESIF financial instruments – working with managing authorities on loan and guarantee instruments

Background

Debt instruments such as loan and guarantee schemes are used by the Member States and regions as the delivery mechanisms for European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) in the 2014-2020 programming period. By the end of 2016 more than EUR 10bn had been invested into financial instruments in a number of sectors including ‘research, development and innovation’ (RDI), SMEs and energy efficiency.

Financial intermediaries, including national promotional banks and institutions (NPBIs) and private sector financial institutions providing credit and guarantee products, play an important role in the implementation of such instruments across the EU. Their active involvement in debt instruments contributes to the achievement of the Member States’ investment priorities and thematic objectives outlined in the Operational Programme (OPs).

To achieve the goal of deploying instruments that meet the demand for access to finance for final recipients, a strong collaboration between the financial intermediaries and the managing authorities is necessary at all stages of the design and implementation of such instruments.

This 1.5-day event will bring together financial intermediaries, NPBIs, managing authorities and other stakeholders to share their practical experiences in implementing ESIF financial instruments, with a focus on:

• the role of NPBs in implementation of debt instruments in 2014-2020,
• the state of play in implementing ESIF financial instruments,
• practical challenges of implementing financial instruments supporting three different Thematic Objectives (TO):

           -  TO 1: Strengthening research, technological development and innovation
           -  TO 3: Enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) 
           -  TO 4: Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors

Objectives

This event aims to provide a platform for exchange on the main topics related to implementation of ESIF financial instruments in 2014-2020, with a special focus on the perspective of financial intermediaries. This exchange will be based on three pillars:

• Exchange of knowledge and know-how, through presentations and plenary discussions with experts from NPBIs and other financial institutions, as well as presentation of case studies of implementation of financial instruments in the current programming period with support of financial intermediaries. In to-the-point presentations, financial intermediaries will share their experiences and discuss challenges in setting up loan and guarantee instruments with ESIF in 2014-2020;
• Interactive discussion sessions on practical experiences, where financial intermediaries, managing authorities and other stakeholders will have an opportunity to exchange in smaller groups, with the help of a facilitator, their experience on practical topics related to implementation of ESIF financial instruments supporting TO 1, TO 3 and TO 4 as well as horizontal topics related to the successful collaboration between financial intermediaries and managing authorities;
• Networking opportunities, bringing together financial intermediaries, NPBIs, managing authorities and other stakeholders in order to help them understand their roles and responsibilities related to loan and guarantee instruments in the 2014-2020 programming period, and to discuss how to work hand-in-hand to achieve the common goal of successfully deploying loan and guarantee instruments.

Agenda of the conference

The detailed programme of the event is available here.

Registrations

Registration is via www.fi-compass.eu/events and the deadline for registration is Wednesday, 20 June 2018.