This week, the auditorium of Banco Sabadell in Madrid hosted the presentation of the new ICO MRR lines (Recovery and Resilience Mechanisms), part of the Next Generation Funds to finance business growth, competitiveness, environmental, sustainable and digital transformation of companies of all sizes and sectors, in line with European Union objectives.
The meeting, organised by Sabadell Hub Empresa, brought together leading experts and managers from the company, who presented the different keys to mobilising these new ICO-MRR lines, which will boost the growth of companies and SMEs.
These lines are “very important because they will help companies and SMEs in their green and digital transition”, explained Banco Sabadell’s Deputy General Manager and Business Banking Director, Eduardo Currás, in his welcome speech at the event. “At Banco Sabadell, we believe that this is a great opportunity for companies and we will support them in the distribution of credit lines, we will advise all SMEs, provide them with information and help them to access it,” he said.
Elisa Sánchez, Director of Corporate Finance, emphasised that banks will play “a very important role, channelling almost €20 billion”. In this context, the director spoke of the role that Banco Sabadell will play, saying that “we will use all our capillarity and, above all, we believe that the support, knowledge and advice that we will give to our customers will be of utmost importance”.
Ana María Martínez “The funds are a strategic opportunity, for Spain and for companies alike. They will be the key to boosting investment and making companies more efficient and competitive”
For her part, Ana María Martínez, Director of the ICO’s Mediation and MRR Department, pointed out that “all companies, regardless of their size and economic activity, are eligible for these new ICO-MRR financing lines”, with a particular focus on SMEs and the self-employed, “all the organisations that have collaborated in the design of the MRR lines have had these profiles in mind precisely to create a simple and agile line structure that allows them to access financing under the best conditions”. Commenting on the opportunities offered by these lines to companies, the Director of the ICO’s Mediation and MMR Department emphasised that “the greatest advantage of these lines is determined by the price, because there will be a financial advantage in the financing costs that companies will need to undertake investment projects. This is in addition to long repayment periods of up to 20 years and significant grace periods of up to three years.”
What do companies need to take advantage of these lines?
Elena Carrera, General Manager and Director of Sustainability and Efficiency at Banco Sabadell, focused on sustainability, recalling that “at Banco Sabadell, we have been implementing sustainability throughout our network for more than two years. Last year, 50% of the medium-term financing we provided was sustainable, which means that companies are investing in this area”. However, Carrera said that “there is still a long way to go in terms of sustainability, and banks are a fundamental lever to make these lines of finance accessible to as many companies as possible”.
Elena Carrera “Banks, through our capillarity, play a fundamental role in enabling the financing of these essential investments for the decarbonisation of companies”
The event was also attended by Susana Sanchiz, Deputy Director General and Corporate Secretary and Head of the European Projects Office | CEOE, and Andrés Montero Aparicio, Head of the RTR Plan Monitoring Unit of the Office of Economic Affairs and G20 | Presidency of the Government, who spoke about how public-private cooperation has been and will be fundamental to the success of the Plan as a whole “if we really want to achieve the transformative effect on companies” and about the deadlines “we have two years to get these lines up and running and for these funds to reach a productive fabric hungry for growth and innovation”.
At the end of the meeting, Banco Sabadell’s Deputy General Manager and Central Territorial Director, José Manuel Candela, reiterated the bank’s commitment to companies, saying: “Simplicity, security, professionalism, advice and peace of mind. This is what distinguishes us at Banco Sabadell. We have prepared ourselves to offer these lines in a simpler and, above all, more agile way. We have trained our network and our teams of specialists to accompany and guide them.”
You can watch the full meeting at this link.
