CaixaBank and the CEOE agree on €20 billion line of credit for companies during 2019-2020

• Under this new commitment both entities consolidate their joint project, reaching a total amount of €66 billion granted to CEOE-associated companies over the last four years.

The Chairman of CaixaBank, Jordi Gual, and the Chairman of the CEOE (Confederation of Employers and Industries of Spain), Antonio Garamendi, have entered a new collaboration agreement to make available a line of credit of €20 billion to CEOE-associated companies and its business organisations during the 2019-2020 period. The aim is to effectively meet the needs of companies and contribute to stimulating internationalisation, innovation and entrepreneurship.

This agreement renews a collaboration between both entities that was initiated in 2016. Since then, CaixaBank has made available a total amount of €66 billion to CEOE-associated companies to promote actions aimed at improvement and growth. In all renewals the amount established in the agreement has been exceeded.

Last year, CaixaBank, Spain’s leading retail bank, granted €59.7 billion euros in new loans to its entire portfolio of micro-enterprises, SMEs and large businesses, representing a 69% increase with respect to the previous year.

Of this amount, 61% represented short-term investment via commercial loans and credit accounts; 35% long-term investment from loans and guarantees; and 3% in medium-term investment through leasing and renting.

Within the framework of the agreement with the CEOE, last year CaixaBank completed over 178,000 financing operations with companies.

Boosting modernisation and business internationalisation

During the signing of this agreement, Jordi Gual highlighted the role of the financial institution in boosting the corporate banking segment in recent years. “If we want to improve the Spanish economy's competitiveness and to access new international and domestic markets, we must provide companies with appropriate financing. CaixaBank is committed to meeting this need and does so by offering the highest quality service,” stated the Chairman of CaixaBank.

Gual also emphasised that “CaixaBank is in a privileged position to offer an expert and personalised service thanks to its 125 business centres located throughout all the autonomous regions and its team of 1,183 managers and experts in this segment.”

Furthermore, Antonio Garamendi thanked CaixaBank for renewing an agreement that “provides Spanish SMEs access to financing, which is one of the biggest barriers they currently face.” In addition, the Chairman of the CEOE stressed that the purpose of this agreement is to support the investment needs of companies, boost internationalisation, facilitate financing, and develop innovative projects that are “vital in the new digital era we live in.”

Antonio Garamendi also highlighted the importance of this agreement at a regional level, as since 2016 several agreements have been entered with business organisations in several autonomous regions, ratifying this agreement and supporting the financing needs at all territorial levels.

Solid experience and swift response to requests

The agreement establishes that CaixaBank will manage swiftly all funding requests made by companies and offer them preferential conditions, based on the characteristics of each operation.

The success of this quick response is the result of CaixaBank's territorial capillarity and extensive commercial network, the largest in the Spanish banking sector. The financial institution, with a solid reputation in providing advisory services to companies, offers companies a specialised service at specific centres and an expert team in all the autonomous regions.

In addition, CaixaBank is one of the foremost companies in advisory services in foreign trade for Spanish companies, providing service in 127 countries through operational branches, representative branches, correspondents and banking shareholdings.

About CaixaBank

CaixaBank is the leading financial group in retail banking in Spain with 15.6 million customers; the peninsula's largest business network with more than 5,000 branches; and a leader in innovation with the largest base of digital customers in Spain (6.1 million).

CaixaBank undertakes a socially-responsible model of universal banking and is considered by Merco as the number one company in corporate responsibility and governance in the Spanish financial sector. Similarly, in 2019, CaixaBank was chosen as the Best Bank in Spain and the Best Bank in Western Europe by the US magazine Global Finance.It also earned Bank of the Year in Spain 2018 by the magazine The Banker.