The Guarantee Fund (Law 662/96) is a public guarantee created by the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE), the purpose of which is to facilitate access to credit for businesses, replacing or accompanying guarantees of another nature and reducing the risk of the financing party on the guaranteed amount.
Apart from in the case of legislative exceptions, and in accordance with the ordinary rules, the Guarantee Fund guarantees up to a maximum amount of EUR 2,500,000 for companies that meet the subjective and objective requirements of the Operational Provisions governing the guarantee.
In the ordinary rules of the Guarantee Fund, the percentage of the guarantee granted by the Guarantee Fund for individual loans varies according to the creditworthiness rating (between 1 and 5), attributed to the individual company by the valuation model referred to in Article 3 of the Ministerial Decree of 29 September 2015 and the Ministerial Decree of 7 December 2016 governed by the Operational Provisions, the type and duration of the guaranteed financial transaction or the type of company, as reported in the Annex.
Law no. 234 of 30 December 2021 (Budget Law 2022) and Decree Law no. 50 of 17 May 2022, as converted by Law no.91 of 5 July 2022 (Aid Decree), envisages the application of a transitional system, extended until December 31, 2023, by Law December 29, 2022 (Budget Law 2023). This transitional system was implemented by the Guarantee Fund with Circulars no. 4 and no. 6 of 2022.
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises registered with the Register of Companies belonging to different production sectors with registered office in Italy. Enterprises in these sectors are not eligible:
Budget Law 2022 introduced the following main exceptions related to the operations of the Guarantee Fund, to remain in force until 31 December 2023 as a result of the extension in Budget Law 2023:
The Aid Decree – in view of the liquidity needs directly deriving from the interruption of supply chains or from the increase in the price of raw materials and other inputs due to application of the restrictive economic measures adopted in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including the sanctions imposed by the European Union and its international partners and the countermeasures adopted by the Russian Federation – introduced the following main exceptions in relation to the operations of the Guarantee Fund. These exceptions are pursuant to “Aid in the form of loan guarantees” – Section 2.2 of the Temporary Crisis Framework to support the economy in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the “Temporary Crisis Framework” or “TCF”).
The operations of the TCF were implemented by the Guarantee Fund with Circular no. 6 of 2022, which provides for the following system which is operational, following the authorisation granted by the European Commission with communication C (2022) 5607 of 29 July 2022, from 30 August 2022 with validity until December 31, 2023 (deadline extended by Budget Law 2023).
The guarantee of the Guarantee Fund with the above-mentioned requirements laid down in the TCF shall not apply to companies subject to sanctions adopted by the European Union, including those specifically listed in the measures imposing such sanctions, those owned or controlled by persons, entities or bodies subject to sanctions adopted by the European Union and those operating in the industrial sectors subject to sanctions adopted by the European Union, insofar as the granting of the guarantee undermines the objectives of the sanctions in question.
For further details of all the temporary derogations on the operations of the Guarantee Fund introduced, please refer to the following Laws and Circulars:
System in force until 31 December 2023
As a general rule, a fee will need to be paid to the Fund for use of the guarantee, as specified in article 2, paragraph 100, letter a), of Law no. 662 of 23 December 1996. It is granted, instead, free of charge, for the exemption cases provided for by the Operational Provisions (e.g. companies located in the south of Italy, women’s enterprises, road haulage companies) and, pursuant to the Aid Decree, for companies, located in Italy, operating in one or more of the sectors or subsectors particularly affected by the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine indicated at the following link: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52022XC0324(10)&from=IT, as well as for financing guaranteed at 90% aimed at achieving objectives for the efficiency or diversification of energy production or consumption.
In the event of non-performance of the loan for reasons attributable to the Customer, following a resolution of approval by the Management Board of the Guarantee Fund, the Customer is required to pay a fee of EUR 300.00.
These conditions partially derogate from provisions in the Information Sheet on Guaranteed Loans, Puglia Sviluppo Guaranteed Loans and Loans Guaranteed with EIB funding and Loans Guaranteed with CDP/EIB funding and Factoring (Purchase and management of an enterprise’s account receivables) following the provisions introduced by the Budget Law 2022 and the Aid Decree, as extended under Budget Law 2023.
System in force until 31 December 2023
As a general rule, a fee will need to be paid to the Fund for use of the guarantee, as specified in article 2, paragraph 100, letter a), of Law no. 662 of 23 December 1996. It is granted, instead, free of charge, for the exemption cases provided for by the Operational Provisions (e.g. companies located in the south of Italy, women’s enterprises, road haulage companies) and, pursuant to the Aid Decree, for companies, located in Italy, operating in one or more of the sectors or subsectors particularly affected by the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine indicated at the following link: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52022XC0324(10)&from=IT, as well as for financing guaranteed at 90% aimed at achieving objectives for the efficiency or diversification of energy production or consumption
In the event of non-performance of the loan for reasons attributable to the Customer, following a resolution of approval by the Management Board of the Guarantee Fund, the Customer is required to pay a fee of EUR 300.00.
These conditions partially derogate from the provisions in the Information Sheet on Vehicle Leases and Equipment Leases following provisions introduced by the Budget Law 2022 and Aid Decree, as extended under Budget Law 2023.
To access the Guarantee Fund, it is necessary to send the leasing company the application form (Annex 4) published by the Ministry of Economic Development at the following link https://www.fondidigaranzia.it/normativa-e-modulistica/modulistica/ with a certain date. The application form must be signed by the legal representative of the company and be completed in full.