Poland: New cooperation between EIB Group and Santander Bank Polska to boost SMEs and female entrepreneurship

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.

• EIB, EIF and Santander Bank Polska sign new synthetic securitisation agreement to inject PLN 5 billion into Polish SMEs
• Focus on female entrepreneurs and firms meeting gender equality criteria

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Investment Fund (EIF), Santander Bank Polska and Santander Leasing have signed a new agreement to support lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in Poland, with particular focus on financing businesses that meet gender equality criteria. The cooperation is set to mobilise up to PLN 5 bln in new funding, at least a third of which will benefit companies owned or led by women, those promoting inclusive employment or offering products designed to tackle the gender gap.

“The EIB and the EIF join forces with Santander Bank Polska to generate PLN 5 billion in new financing for Polish SMEs, with particular focus on alleviating persistent gender gaps. Promoting gender equality is not just the right thing to do – it is simply good for business. Meanwhile, women’s small and medium enterprises around the world face disproportionate challenges getting credit. The EIB Group is working to advance gender equality and women’s economic empowerment through ensuring equal access to the assets, services, benefits and opportunities our investments generate. Our financing for gender equality last year amounted to €3 billion and I am happy to be collaborating with Santander on this essential matter,” said EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska.

Specifically, the sides signed a synthetic securitisation agreement through which the EIB Group invests a total of PLN 3.9 billion to reduce Santander’s risks associated with existing loans in order to facilitate new lending. A detailed note on the structure of the agreement, which will also support climate projects, is attached underneath this press release.

“We are proud to be making real impact together with Santander Bank Polska, drumming up gender finance and green investment. With this transaction, which is the EIB Group’s largest synthetic securitisation to date, we free up capital for Santander, which is then invested into targeted policy areas. Since 2013, the EIB Group has invested €12 billion ln in securitisations in Poland and Central-Eastern Europe, helping to drive a robust growth of this market in the region and deepening the European Union’s capital markets,” said EIF Deputy Chief Executive Merete Clausen.

Polish businesses will be able to access new funding from the EIB Group’s fifth synthetic securitisation agreement with Santander over the next three years.      

“We have been continuously working with the EIB Group for 15 years to find business solutions that first and foremost meet our customers’ expectations and support the implementation of Santander Bank Polska Group strategy. Our cooperation with the EIB includes liquidity and capital initiatives, and through each of them we support segments such as SMEs and mid-caps. The projects completed so far have contributed to increasing the availability of financing for these customer groups, which are key to the development of Polish entrepreneurship. For me, this transaction is of exceptional importance. Thanks to the released capital, we will be able to even better support female entrepreneurship in Poland,” said Magdalena Proga-Stępień, Member of the Management Board heading the Retail Banking Division at Santander Bank Polska.

Diversity and inclusion activities are an important part of Santander Bank Polska Group strategy. In addition to financial products and solutions that boost women’s entrepreneurship, Santander Bank Polska Group also implements numerous training projects that improve the professional competencies of women in business, such as “Strong in Business.” This is a series of educational workshops, as well as a competition for female entrepreneurs, in which participants could win educational grants and funding for the best business plans. More than 3600 women participated in the last edition of the program. At the same time, the Santander Group regularly organizes recruitment for the “Santander W50” global women’s talent development program, in which more than 800 female leaders have already participated. The program helps consolidate leadership styles, build a personal brand and join a prestigious global network of female leaders.

“This is the largest securitization agreement in the history of our cooperation with the EIB Group. Thanks to our successful collaboration with the EBI, we support Polish entrepreneurs by offering them more favourable financing conditions. Our goal is to facilitate access to funds that enable businesses to grow and invest in their future. For years, we have been working with international financial institutions to use available financial resources for socially important purposes, primarily such as supporting SMEs, financing climate-friendly investments, or supporting Polish female entrepreneurs,” said Krzysztof Kowalewski, vice-president of Santander Leasing Poland. “The share of companies run by women among Santander Leasing clients is 25 percent, and we are pleased that this indicator is steadily growing. Just six years ago it was 10 percent lower. Our female clients most often operate in industries that drive the economy and innovation: wholesale and retail trade, healthcare, but also professional and scientific activities.”

Background information

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, the capital markets union, and a stronger Europe in a more peaceful and prosperous world.  

The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security.

The EIB Group will soon share full results of its 2024 activities in Poland. The Group’s latest Investment Survey (EIBIS) showed Poland fares better than European Union peers when it comes to gender equality in business management.

To enhance the positive impact of its activities on gender equality and empower women and girls, the EIB Group adopted a Strategy on Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment and a Gender Action Plan, with the aim of embedding gender equality and in particular women’s economic empowerment in the EIB’s business model. It covers its lending, blending and advisory work within and outside the European Union. In 2024, EIB financing for gender equality represented more than €3 billion and over 40 projects. You can find more information here on the EIB gender equality initiatives.

The EIB is also committed to driving gender equality in the workplace. We have included gender equality goals in our business model and are implementing a Strategy on Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment. We apply Financing for Gender Equality criteria – which are based on the leading global gender-lens investing reporting criteria (“2X”) around the world.

Santander Bank Polska is one of the largest financial groups and the biggest private bank in Poland. It offers state-of-the-art financial solutions to personal customers, micro, small and medium enterprises, and domestic and international corporations.  The bank operates one of the biggest networks of branches and partner outlets. It also renders services via electronic channels, including mobile banking. It is one of market leaders in terms of the use of modern technologies in banking. The bank is a member of the global Santander Group.  The Group is present in 10 key markets in Europe and both Americas (Spain, Poland, the United Kingdom, Portugal, the USA, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Germany). Customer satisfaction and loyalty are a priority for Santander Bank Polska. For this reason, strategic and ongoing management of Santander Bank Polska is geared to creating solutions, products and services that help customers take care of their personal finance and effectively manage their companies.

Technical note on the transaction

In this synthetic securitisation transaction, the EIB Group assumes a significant portion of the risk from a PLN 4 billion lease portfolio. The EIB Group guarantees a senior tranche of around PLN 3.4 billion and a mezzanine tranche of approximately PLN 560 million, while Santander retains the junior tranche. The underlying portfolio consists of leases to small and medium enterprises, originated by Santander Leasing.

EIB Group’s guarantees in this transaction provide capital relief for Santander, thereby freeing up additional lending capacity. Through a retrocession agreement, Santander commits to using this additional capacity to create a new portfolio of eligible loans and leases in an amount of PLN 5 billion that align with the EIB Group’s policy objectives.

The transaction includes a two-year replenishment period, during which Santander can add new leases to the transaction to offset amortisations in the portfolio.