EIB, the European Investment Fund and Santander Bank Polska sign new synthetic securitisation transaction to inject PLN 5 billion into Polish SMEs.

Focus on female entrepreneurs and firms meeting gender equality criteria.

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Investment Fund (EIF), Santander Bank Polska and Santander Leasing have signed a new agreement to support lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in Poland, with particular focus on financing businesses that meet gender equality criteria.

The cooperation is set to mobilise up to PLN 5 bln in new funding, at least a third of which will benefit companies owned or led by women, those promoting inclusive employment or offering products designed to tackle the gender gap.

“The EIB and the EIF join forces with Santander Bank Polska to generate PLN 5 billion in new financing for Polish SMEs, with particular focus on alleviating persistent gender gaps. Promoting gender equality is not just the right thing to do – it is simply good for business. Meanwhile, women’s small and medium enterprises around the world face disproportionate challenges getting credit. The EIB Group is working to advance gender equality and women’s economic empowerment through ensuring equal access to the assets, services, benefits and opportunities our investments generate. Our financing for gender equality last year amounted to €3 billion and I am happy to be collaborating with Santander on this essential matter,” said EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska.

Specifically, the sides signed a synthetic securitisation agreement through which the EIB Group invests a total of PLN 3.9 billion to reduce Santander’s risks associated with existing loans to facilitate new lending. A detailed note on the structure of the agreement, which will also support climate projects, is attached underneath this press release.

“We are proud to be making real impact together with Santander Bank Polska, drumming up gender finance and green investment. With this transaction, which is the EIB Group’s largest synthetic securitisation to date, we free up capital for Santander, which is then invested into targeted policy areas. Since 2013, the EIB Group has invested €12 billion ln in securitisations in Poland and Central-Eastern Europe, helping to drive a robust growth of this market in the region and deepening the European Union’s capital markets,” said EIF Deputy Chief Executive Merete Clausen.

Polish businesses will be able to access new funding from the EIB Group’s fifth synthetic securitisation agreement with Santander over the next three years.      

“We have been continuously working with the EIB Group for 15 years to find business solutions that first and foremost meet our customers' expectations and support the implementation of Santander Bank Polska Group strategy. Our cooperation with the EIB includes liquidity and capital initiatives, and through each of them we support segments such as SMEs and mid-caps. The projects completed so far have contributed to increasing the availability of financing for these customer groups, which are key to the development of Polish entrepreneurship. For me, this transaction is of exceptional importance. Thanks to the released capital, we will be able to even better support female entrepreneurship in Poland,” said Magdalena Proga-Stępień, Member of the Management Board heading the Retail Banking Division at Santander Bank Polska.

Diversity and inclusion activities are an important part of Santander Bank Polska Group strategy. In addition to financial products and solutions that boost women's entrepreneurship, Santander Bank Polska Group also implements numerous training projects that improve the professional competencies of women in business, such as “Strong in Business.” This is a series of educational workshops, as well as a competition for female entrepreneurs, in which participants could win educational grants and funding for the best business plans. More than 3600 women participated in the last edition of the program. At the same time, the Santander Group regularly organizes recruitment for the “Santander W50” global women's talent development program, in which more than 800 female leaders have already participated. The program helps consolidate leadership styles, build a personal brand and join a prestigious global network of female leaders.

“This is the largest securitization agreement in the history of our cooperation with the EIB Group. Thanks to our successful collaboration with the EBI, we support Polish entrepreneurs by offering them more favourable financing conditions. Our goal is to facilitate access to funds that enable businesses to grow and invest in their future. For years, we have been working with international financial institutions to use available financial resources for socially important purposes, primarily such as supporting SMEs, financing climate-friendly investments, or supporting Polish female entrepreneurs,” said Krzysztof Kowalewski, vice-president of Santander Leasing Poland. “The share of companies run by women among Santander Leasing clients is 25 percent, and we are pleased that this indicator is steadily growing. Just six years ago it was 10 percent lower. Our female clients most often operate in industries that drive the economy and innovation: wholesale and retail trade, healthcare, but also professional and scientific activities.”

Technical note on the transaction

In this synthetic securitisation transaction, the EIB Group assumes a significant portion of the risk from a PLN 4 billion lease portfolio. The EIB Group guarantees a senior tranche of around PLN 3.4 billion and a mezzanine tranche of approximately PLN 560 million, while Santander retains the junior tranche. The underlying portfolio consists of leases to small and medium enterprises, originated by Santander Leasing.

EIB Group’s guarantees in this transaction provide capital relief for Santander, thereby freeing up additional lending capacity. Through a retrocession agreement, Santander commits to using this additional capacity to create a new portfolio of eligible loans and leases in an amount of PLN 5 billion that align with the EIB Group’s policy objectives.

The transaction includes a two-year replenishment period, during which Santander can add new leases to the transaction to offset amortisations in the portfolio.

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