Enterprises   

After some meetings, last March 31^st the Abi (Italian Banking Association) and the associations of undertakings signed the Agreement for Credit 2015. The abovementioned Parties were bound to define new measures in order to promote the access to credit by the SMEs within the Italian territory and to sustain the businesses in temporary financial difficulties but with the possibility to continue and develop the business, in compliance with the provision of Article 1, section 246 of the Stability Law 2015 (law no. 190/2014).

The Agreement, which will be in force until December 31^st 2017, is composed by three initiatives, which recall the measures already implemented by the parties since 2009, but an adjustment to the changed legislative and economic context was necessary:

1. “Imprese in Ripresa” (“Undertakings in recovery”) about the suspension and prolongation of loans;

2. “Imprese in Sviluppo” (“Undertakings in development”) concerning the financing of investment projects and the capitalization of the undertakings, to be achieved through the establishment by participating banks of individual caps, within the total amount of 10 billion euros;

3. “Imprese e PA” (“Undertakings and Public Administration”) about the disinvestment of credits owned by the undertakings towards the Public Administration, also with a cap amounting to 10 billion euros.

In order to avail themselves of the said initiatives, the SME shall be “in bonis”, i.e. performing, at the time of the submission of the request; the undertaking is considered performing if it does not have debt positions qualified as non-performing, probable default or debts past due or exceeding the limit for more than 90 days. 

The initiative sub 1 provides for the concession of a new moratorium on loans taken out by the SMEs, including both the suspension and the prolongation of the loans:

·       The suspension for a period equal to 12 months is granted for the capital portion of repayments of medium-long term loans, even if favorable or enhanced by means of issuance of promissory notes. The same suspension can be granted for capital portion of repayments implied in real estate lease installments, while it is halved to 6 months for leasing of movable goods. The suspension implies the translation of the repayment plan for an equivalent period and the interests on suspended capital shall be paid at the original deadlines.

·     The prolongation can concern the duration of loans, the deadlines of short-term credit and of agricultural credit. The maximum prolongation period for loans is equal to 100% of the outstanding period of the repayment plan. In any event, the prolongation period cannot be longer than 3 years for unsecured loans and 4 years for mortgage loans. The prolongation of the deadlines of short-term unpaid credits is equal to 9 months, while for agricultural credit it could get to a maximum of 120 days.

The Agreement allows to suspend or to prolong also the loans that already benefitted of this instrument in the past years, as long as the request was not submitted in the 24 months preceding the date of submission of the new moratorium request.  

Nonetheless, the Agreement brings bad news for the undertakings. The Stability Law’s purpose to stabilize the financial situation of all SMEs received a triple setback: the suspension period was reduced from 3 years to only 12 months; the moratoriums shall be granted on the basis of individual requests and not through automatic mechanisms, thus allowing the banks, in their own discretion, to reject the applications submitted by the SME at the end of a banking investigation; at last, the moratorium is accessible only for performing undertakings, excluding a priori all the SMEs that are already in economic difficulty.

Furthermore, it should be pointed out that, the instrument shall become effective only after the previous authorization of the European Banking Authority, which shall verify the compliance with the prudential regulation in force.

 

Families

The same day, the Agreement for the suspension of credit to families was signed by Abi and many Consumer Associations, in compliance with article 1, section 246, of the Stability Law 2015.

The Agreement provides for the suspension for a maximum period of 12 months of the sole capital portion of repayments of consumer credit of duration longer than 24 months and with a “French” default repayment plan (non revolving), as well as loans secured by means of a mortgage on the main house.

The suspension can be requested by the consumer upon occurrence of the events listed: termination of employment relationship, death, serious injury or in case of economic difficulty due to suspension of the job and/or of social safety nets, with delays in payments up to 90 days.  

The interests to be paid shall be the same due at the contractual deadlines and calculated upon the outstanding debt, and no commission or default interests can be imposed.

The moratorium is also open to families that already availed themselves of this instrument, as long as the request was not submitted in the 24 months preceding the new request.

With the new moratorium, the signing Parties expanded the accessibility to the supporting measures for families in difficulty in the context of medium-long term consumer credit, including between the possible beneficiaries also those who suffered suspensions or reductions of their working time following to the financial crisis. This is the most relevant new aspect of the instrument, compared to the complementary Solidarity Fund for the purchase of the first home, better known as “Fondo Gasparrini”.

Furthermore, it should be pointed out that the same text of the Agreement shows that the said Solidarity Fund shall continue to be the preferred tool to be invoked and that only the individuals who do not possess the requirements to benefit from the said Fund shall be admitted to this additional measure.

As well as for the moratorium on loans taken out by undertakings, it is necessary to wait for the previous evaluation by the European Banking Authority about the compliance of the Agreement with the prudential regulation in force. And also in relation to the supporting measures for families the guidelines contained in the Stability Law were severely downsized: the Stability Law’s provisions generically referred to a suspension on the “payment of the capital portion for the years from 2015 to 2018”, while the signing Parties limited the applicability of the measures within well-defined boundaries.