Finland. Säästöpankki Optia
| Date of agreement: | 18 Jun 2013 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Finland |
| Customer: | Säästöpankki Optia |
| Amount in EUR: | EUR 15 million |
| Maturity: | 7 years |
| NACE sector / loan type: | Loan programme |
Project
The loan programme has been provided for onlending to small and medium-sized companies’ investment projects in different sectors and to environmental projects. Säästöpankki Optia has approximately 4,600 corporate clients, of which the majority are in the SME sector. Optia finances projects within, among others, the wind energy, bioenergy, the agricultural and forestry sector, and infrastructure. The target is to increase the exposure in the healthcare and environmental sectors.
Optia ranks as the largest (by total assets) of the 31 savings banks in the Finnish Savings Banks Group. Optia’s main focus is on retail banking. Today, Optia operates from headquarters in the town of Iisalmi in the eastern part of the country, where it was established in 1883, and has 17 offices located in northern, eastern and central Finland.
Fulfilment of NIB's mandate
The project is expected to improve access for SMEs to financing and facilitate growth of their productivity. SMEs account for the largest share of economic activities in NIB’s member area. Therefore, projects contributing to the growth of productivity of SMEs will boost productivity across sectors and increase competition. Productivity growth of SMEs is generally lower than that of larger companies, which is partly caused by the limited availability of financing for SME investments in projects. The loan programme will, therefore, contribute to facilitating productivity growth in the region and alleviating the credit constraints of the SMEs.
Sustainability summary
Pursuant to NIB’s Sustainability Policy and Guidelines, Säästöpankki Optia is to categorise projects according to their potential negative environmental impact and exclude projects that are either category A or on the Exclusion List.
