Monte dei Paschi di Siena Bank and Confesercenti, an Italian industrial confederation representing over 270,000 companies in the sectors of services, tourism, commerce and manufacturing, signed a framework agreement to develop a shared initiative to support Italian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The agreement, which aims to consolidate the partnership signed between the two institutions in 2005, makes available €2bn to improve the access to finance for SMEs and boost the economic sectors in which they work.
In addition, Monte dei Paschi di Siena Bank and Confesercenti will implement, through an integrated initiative, a series of actions aimed to:
– develop and promote cash and payment instruments;
– promote the use of public guarantees and the role of guarantee institutions;
– develop an active policy for SMEs with particular emphasis to micro enterprises and women entrepreneurship, according to the principles expressed in the European Union’s “Small Business Act”.
In the current economic phase, in which it is essential for companies to build an active relationship with banks, the action targets to better define a SME-tailored credit offering. In this sense, the agreement will directly involve both the network of over 3,000 branches of Monte dei Paschi di Siena Bank and the offices of Confesercenti spread all over the country.
FinSMEs
19/10/2009