The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union's financing institution, announces a EUR 25 million global loan to Crédit Professionnel S.A. for financing capital projects mounted by SMEs. The finance contract was signed on 20 May at the EIB's headquarters in Luxembourg by Messrs Werner Rogiers, President, and Jean-Christophe Vanhuysse, Director of Crédit Professionnel S.A., and the President of the EIB, Philippe Maystadt, in the presence of Mr Philippe Vasseur, President of Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe.
This global loan will be onlent by Crédit Professionnel S.A. to the regional banks belonging to its network for part-financing small ventures in Belgium promoted by SMEs in the industrial, service and agricultural sectors.
Global loans are lines of credit opened with banks or other financial intermediaries which pass on the proceeds in the form of sub-loans for small and medium-scale projects meeting the Bank's operational objectives. The attractiveness of this facility for small businesses lies in the opportunity to obtain funds, originating from the EIB, at a relatively low cost. In this case, the institutions forming part of the Crédit Professionnel network will pass on the advantageous terms of the EIB loan to SMEs whose investment schemes fulfil the eligibility criteria for this global loan.
Together with the nine regional cooperative banks, Crédit Professionnel S.A. constitutes Crédit Professionnel's Belgian network. This focuses on the country's self-employed and SMEs and has specialised in investment credit since its creation in 1929. With the backing of its majority shareholder, Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe, it is seeking to establish itself as the house bank of its customers.
The EIB Group underpins SME investment with its medium and long-term global loans, venture capital finance and counter guarantees for the banking sector, thus offering the complete range of facilities required for the development of SMEs in a changing economy. During the past five years, the EIB has advanced EUR 1.1 billion in global loans to partner institutions in Belgium for SME and local authority projects. For its part, the European Investment Fund (EIF) has acquired stakes totalling approximately EUR 33 million in 5 venture capital funds in Belgium.