A number of Italian banks – together with
their leasing subsidiaries – have started to offer small and
medium-sized businesses various schemes allowing them to postpone
the payment of their loan and lease agreements.
The schemes, aimed at supporting struggling
firms during the economic downturn, have been adopted by Leasint
and MPS Leasing & Factoring, two of the Italy’s major
lessors.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo launched
a scheme at the end of May that allows a 12-month deferral of the
capital element of loans and leasing contracts for those clients
that request it, starting from July 2009. It has identified a
potential 30,000-strong client base that could benefit from the
proposal.
The bank said that, during the deferral
period, only interest on the residual amount owed will fall due,
which will be charged on the usual due dates of the loans. The
normal repayment programme will then resume at the end of the
12-month period.
While the Intesa Sanpaolo initiative covers
all of Italy, a group of 15 Italian banks and lessors have also
signed a specific agreement with local authorities to focus on the
needs of SME firms in the region of Tuscany, one of Italy’s
wealthiest regions.
Specifically, this second initiative involves
13 banks and two leasing companies – MPS Leasing & Factoring
and Centro Leasing Banca – and is aimed at Tuscan-based companies
that have a good payment history with their lenders, but are now
encountering problems keeping up with payments.
The agreement will allow them to suspend the
payment of loan and lease instalments until 31 December 2009.
Both initiatives are aimed at SMEs, which
represent the backbone of Italy’s economic system. In the case of
Intesa Sanpaolo, turnover should not exceed €50 million in order to
be considered.
