1. SME Initiative Finland
Multi-Country Workshop on the Implementation of the SMEI Initiative
Kari Parkkonen
Elina Rainio
11 July 2017

2. SME Initiative in Finland
Implementation started in 2016
EUR 400m portfolio of loans for SMEs
Co-funded through European Regional and Development Fund resources (20 million euros), national budget of the Republic of Finland (20 million euros) + Horizon 2020 and EIB resources
50 % guarantee for bank loans and leases
3 intermediaries
Very good market response, objective of EUR 400m reached in unexpectedly short time
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland • 

3. State of Play of Implementation of SME Initiative /1
Agreements between the Republic of Finland and EIF signed in September and in December 2016
Call for Expressions of Interest opened from 15 September 2016 till 31 March 2017
6 financial intermediaries applied for a total portfolio of EUR 690 million
3 operational agreements signed in January 2017 (of which one is pending)
4th operational agreement signed in April 2017
“oversubscribtion” EUR 290 m
15 loans for EUR 3.3m provided during the first quarter of 2017
Preliminary discussions on increasing the programme
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland • 

4. State of Play of Implementation of SME Initiative /2
Role of the Managing Authority slightly unclear during the process
Lack of instructions and information from the EC / EIF
Some bureucratic bottlenecks noticed
Regulatory inconvenience: need for amendments to facilitate financial instruments like SMEI
Overlapping duties of Monitoring Committee of the main programme and Investor Board of the SMEI
Confusion among intermediaries caused by State aid rules and their interpretations
Who is responsible for steering and guidance of the intermediaries?
Assessments?
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland • 

5. Proposals for improvement of the SMEI implication
Regulatory amendments concerning the financial instruments
Better collaboration between the Commission and EIF during the process
More detailed steering from the Commission to the Managing Authorities
Need for instructions and guidance: detailed description of the role and the duties of the MA
Setting up a network of Managing Authorities in the member states
Establishment of better dialogical connection among the member states as well as the Commission and EIF
Regular discussions between the Managing Authorities, the Commission and EIF warmly welcomed
State aid rules should be better taken into account in preparation and implementation of SMEI
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland •