IFIS LOAN FOR SMES AND GENDER EQUALITY (EIB-20240932)

Countries
  • Italy
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • European Investment Bank (EIB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jul 24, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
BANCA IFIS SPA
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 117.55 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 100
Converted using 2025-07-24 exchange rate.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EIB website

Updated in EWS Oct 30, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Jul 31, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the operation is a Multiple-Beneficiary Intermediated Loan (MBIL) supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Italy's pharmacy sector. The aim is to enhance access to finance for the target beneficiaries. At least 30% of the EIB loan will support SMEs complying with the EIB's gender equality financing criteria, while at least 50% of the sub-projects are expected to be located in cohesion regions.

The proposed operation, with a minimum 30% gender equality and a minimum 50% cohesion region windows, aims to address market failures related to access to finance for SMEs, including self-employed pharmacy professionals. Market failure arises due to information asymmetries between lender and borrower resulting in no or costly access to finance. This is particularly the case for new and/or women owned businesses.

The operation also aims to generate positive externalities by promoting gender equality and women's economic empowerment, provision of health services and products offered by the pharmacies including in rural areas, as well as helping to reduce regional disparities.

Banca IFIS/Credifarma brings in expertise and its widespread network of pharmacists benefitting the operation. The additional lending capacity with medium to long-term financing and lower financing costs provided through EIB's intervention will promote access to finance for final beneficiaries and generate positive effects on provision of healthcare products and services to citizens. In addition, Banca IFIS/Credifarma will be offered advisory support throughout the implementation to contribute to the intermediary's efforts to further measure, strengthen and expand its portfolio's contribution to gender equality goals going forward.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

A Multiple-Beneficiary Intermediated Loan (MBIL) supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated by Bloomberg, Banca IFIS S.p.A. provides financial services. The Company offers products and services, which includes factoring, advisory and equity investment, structured finance, leasing, and medium and long-term financing for industrial investments. Banca Ifis serves customers in Italy.


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/registers/request-form/request-form-default.htm

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EIB

The EIB Complaints Mechanism is designed to facilitate and handle complaints against the EIB by individuals, organizations or corporations affected by EIB activities. When exercising the right to lodge a complaint against the EIB, any member of the public has access to a two-tier procedure, one internal - the Complaints Mechanism Office - and one external - the European Ombudsman. A complaint can be lodged via a written communication addressed to the Secretary General of the EIB, via email to the dedicated email address: complaints@eib.org, by completing the online complaint form available at the following address: http://www.eib.org/complaints/form via fax or delivered directly to the EIB Complaints Mechanism Division, any EIB local representation office or any EIB staff. For further details, check: http://www.eib.org/attachments/strategies/complaints_mechanism_policy_en.pdf

When dissatisfied with a complaint to the EIB Complaints Mechanism, citizens can then turn towards the European Ombudsman. A memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the EIB and the European Ombudsman establishes that citizens (even outside of the EU if the Ombudsman finds their complaint justified) can turn towards the Ombudsman on issues related to 'maladministration' by the EIB. Note that before going to the Ombudsman, an attempt must be made to resolve the case by contacting the EIB. In addition, the complaint must be made within two years of the date when the facts on which your complaint is based became known to you. You can write to the Ombudsman in any of the languages of the European Union. Additional details, including filing requirements and complaint forms, are available at: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/atyourservice/interactiveguide.faces

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How it works