Financial, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and Sace Partnership to finance SMEs
A particular focus on Agrifood supply chains to accompany the sustainable transition
With this agreement, BMPS continues its territorial specialization path started with the creation of the Agroalimentare and AgevolaPiù centers.
SACE intervenes with green guarantees for up to 80% of the loans disbursed by Banca MPS to help companies in their sustainable transformation processes, in line with the guidelines of the PNRR.
Strengthen the commitment to sustainable development in Italy through a new line of financing dedicated to the green projects of companies. With these objectives, SACE and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena sign a partnership to support SMEs and Small Businesses that intend to invest to counter the effects of climate change and reduce their environmental impact through sustainable projects.
Loans disbursed by the Bank, up to an amount of 15 million euros and for a maximum duration of 20 years, destined for decisive domestic projects for the future and in line with the assessment criteria and taxonomy defined by the European Union – such as mitigation and prevention of climate change, reduction of polluting activities, protection of water and marine resources, protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems and circular economy, as well as other sustainable projects – benefit from the SACE green guarantee at 80%. The SACE guarantee is issued through a simplified and digitized process and is intended for companies with a turnover, at individual company level, of up to 500 million euros.
“This agreement with Banca MPS – underlined Pierfrancesco Latini, Chief Executive Officer of SACE – strengthens our commitment to support loans for both large industrial conversion projects and SMEs that intend to reduce their environmental impact and initiate a sustainable transformation. We are working with the entire banking system and I am convinced that, with this operation, we will be able to give an important boost to the country’s ecological transition, also as a lever for PNRR investments. Partnerships like this demonstrate the importance of the synergistic and systemic effort between financial institutions to achieve the development goals of the 2030 Agenda “.
“Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has always been committed to supporting companies and local areas to support the growth and development of the business, with great attention to the opportunities offered by the PNRR in terms of sustainability and innovation – said Guido Bastianini, Director BMPS Delegate -. The agreement with SACE goes precisely in this direction and confirms Monte’s concrete support for financing green projects. In such a delicate and significant historical moment for the changes underway, our goal is to accompany companies and families in the country’s transition path towards a sustainable development model with a dedicated offer of credit and services “.
Overall, BMPS has allocated a ceiling of up to € 1.25 billion (corresponding to SACE Guarantees of up to € 1 billion) by 2022, of which up to € 500 million specifically aimed at the Agrifood sector, to which the Group MPS has always offered its support and specialization of the offer, thanks also to the network of MPS Agroalimentare centers, distributed throughout the Italian territory. Together with the first 10 MPS AgevolaPiù poles, created to support medium, small and very small companies, but also families and local authorities in the use of the new PNRR calls, the branches and specialist centers of Banca MPS, thanks to the agreement with SACE, will be able to be more operational in the area for green operations or operations related to sustainable transition.
SACE plays a leading role in the Italian ecological transition. As required by the Simplification Law Decree of July 2020, in fact, the company led by Pierfrancesco Latini can issue green guarantees on domestic projects capable of facilitating the transition to an economy with a lower environmental impact, integrating production cycles with low-emission technologies. for the production of sustainable goods and services and to promote initiatives aimed at developing a new mobility with lower polluting emissions. Since the entry into force of the Decree, a team of specialists has been set up across the various company functions, which includes different and complementary professionals, capable of fully responding to the needs of this new operation of SACE. From the start of this new operation in December last year, SACE has approved 19 transactions, mobilizing resources for 1.5 billion and has met over 300 potential beneficiaries of the instrument. Attention to sustainability also confirmed by SACE’s adoption of the Climate Change Policy, a series of ad hoc measures to improve the contribution of business activities to the reduction of climate-altering emissions and which introduces a ban on supporting particularly impactful projects for the environment. Another important step is represented by the recent adhesion to the Poseidon Principles, the first agreement in the world between financial institutions in the field of climate alignment, aimed at the maritime sector. Through this framework, SACE undertakes to monitor the greenhouse gas emissions of its portfolio in the cruise and shipbuilding sector, the first sector for SACE’s export credit exposure, in order to verify its compliance with the decarbonisation objectives established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Rome, December 13, 2021
Source Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena
