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The Institut Català de Finances is the Government of Catalonia’s public development bank
Our mission is to meet the financing and investment needs of the business and social community to drive the growth and transformation of the Catalan economy.
We offer loans and guarantees to businesses, self-employed individuals and organisations to turn their plans into reality.
We also invest in start-ups to support innovative ideas with high growth potential and in small and medium-sized enterprises to help them roll out their strategic transformation plans.
The ICF’s public development banking model adds to the private financial sector and other institutions by offering long-term financing to make it easier to repay debt and unlock strategic projects for Catalonia.
We seek to offer the best possible conditions to ensure that no feasible project in Catalonia falls through due to lack of long-term financing.
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We offer long-term financing
We work to support businesses and organisations in all their stages when they are looking to start up projects and initiatives.
This is why we offer financing tailored to their needs with the best possible financial conditions and long repayment terms while maintaining our solvency as the basis for continuing to perform our role.
As a public development bank, when companies which have loans with us run into difficulties or encounter special circumstances, we always look for the best way to try to make it easier for them to repay the financing.
We support transformational and strategic projects for Catalonia such as the green transition, social housing, the primary sector and industry.
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We drive strategic projects for Catalonia
The ICF plays a key role in Catalonia’s progress. We drive the development of the Catalan economy and society and target the strategic strands laid down by the Catalan Government.
However, we also operate autonomously in terms of our organisation, finance, assets, functions and management independent of public administrations. Financing and investment decisions are taken autonomously by the ICF’s risk teams and the institution’s governing bodies.
If we make a profit, we reinvest it to improve the terms of our loans, create new funding streams or enhance the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of our public service work.
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More than 40 years of history
The ICF was founded in 1985 with the backing of all the political forces represented in the Parliament of Catalonia. At first, our role was the outcome of the implementation of the powers of Catalan self-government with operations primarily in loans and guarantees.
Over the years, we have reworked our structure and organisation to better cater to the new financing needs of the Catalan business and productive community.
In 2002, we embarked on venture capital operations to enhance the Catalan entrepreneurial ecosystem while in 2009 for the first time we channelled European funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to provide more financing with better conditions to Catalan economic and social stakeholders.
In 2011, we integrated the Institut Català del Crèdit Agrari (ICCA) to standardise structures and broaden the range of financial solutions available to the Catalan primary sector.
Over the last decade, we have completed several internal changes such as the banking penetration process, the approval of the new governance model to bring our institution into line with other European development banks and digital transformation to enhance the service we deliver to our customers.
The reforms rolled out coupled with our cumulative experience made the ICF a key player in the response to the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, providing financing and liquidity to numerous Catalan enterprises and mitigating the impact of the global economic situation on our productive structure.
How is the ICF financed?
The ICF is mainly financed by borrowing from Spanish and European public and private financial institutions and entities.
The ICF is not funded by the Catalan Government’s budget. It is classified by the Bank of Spain as a non-monetary financial institution and ratified by Eurostat as a financial institution outside the perimeter of public administration (ESA).
For these reasons, the bulk of the ICF’s operations do not add any deficit or debt to the Government of Catalonia.
We are a member of the European Association of Public Banks
Since 2014 we have been a member of the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB) which brings together some one hundred European public financial institutions. The EAPB is the voice of the European public banking sector, represents its interests vis-à-vis the European Union and other stakeholders and fosters ongoing cooperation among financial institutions to promote social and sustainable growth.
