Purpose / Objective

JEREMIE is an initiative of the European Commission, which has been developed jointly with the European Investment Fund. Its purpose is to promote the use of financial engineering instruments to improve access by SMEs to funding through Structural Fund projects. This initiative makes it possible to use part of the European Structural Funds that have been assigned in order to invest in reimbursable instruments such as risk capital funds, loan funds or guarantee funds.

In order to carry out productive investment projects in Galicia, the General Directorate of European Projects and Funds and the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion (IGAPE) have created a financial instrument that is co-financed with funds from the ERDF 2007-2013 Operational Programme, with the aim of providing access to credit for economically viable projects that have difficulties in accessing financing or at comparatively higher costs.

Types of support

Support for non-competitive projects.

Potential beneficiaries

1.- The following types of trading companies will be considered eligible:

a) SMEs or microenterprises according to the definition of the European Commission.

b) Companies that carry out their business activities in a place of work where the investment project will be implemented, in the Autonomous Region of Galicia.

c) Companies that develop or have planned to undertake some type of eligible business activity that is not included in the excluded activities detailed in Appendix II of these guidelines.

d) Companies that make a financial contribution towards the investment project of 30% of the project costs, 25% of which must not include any type of public aid, as well as all of the indirect taxes affecting the purchase of goods, either from its own equity or using external financing.

2.- The following are not eligible for financing:

a) Trading companies whose activity is included in those excluded by Article 1 of EU Regulation no. 1407/2013, regarding the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty to de minimis aid.

b) Companies subject to an order to recover funding as a result of a decision by the European Commission.

c) Companies in crisis

d) Companies subject to any of the circumstances detailed in Article 10.2 of Law 9/2007 on Subsidies in Galicia

Financing may also be granted to natural persons and civil partnerships or joint ventures that meet the requirements indicated above. In this case both the application and document indicating that the financing has been awarded must indicate the commitment to implement the project accepted by each member of the group, as well as the amount of aid that will applied by each of them, who will also be considered as beneficiaries. In any event, a representative or attorney must be appointed with sufficient powers to comply with the obligations affecting the group as a beneficiary. The group or cluster may not be dissolved until the end of the four-year limitation period detailed in Article 35 and 63 of Law 9/2007 of 13 June on Subsidies in Galicia.

Sectors eligible for subsidy

Eligible projects for investment must be associated with some kind of economic activity that is not included amongst those detailed in Appendix II of these regulations, independently of any others the applicant may also undertake.

Main project requirements

* Characteristics of projects to be funded:

The IGAPE may finance business investment projects to be implanted in the Autonomous Region of Galicia that meet the following requirements:

1.- The project must have a fundable investment of no less than €70,000

2.- All eligible projects will have to accredit their technical, economic, financial and environmental viability (where applicable), and must consist of the creation of new premises, the expansion of existing premises, the diversification of production from premises with new additional products or an essential change to the general production process in existing premises. Financing will not be granted to the renovation of assets, the transfer of production centres that does not result in any improvement in their production capacity or competitiveness, repayment costs, repayment of outstanding accounts, the financing or re-financing of debts, payment of taxes or duties, or any others subject to the specific limitations of the ERDF Operative Programme.

3.- Financing will be made available to investments and expenses that meet the requirements of these regulations, which have been implemented and paid once the application has been presented, and within the period granted for the implementation of the project.

This does not include taxes, duties or other levies, with the exception of value added tax when this cannot be recovered or compensated by the beneficiary.


* Characteristics of the loans:

1.-Amount of financing: the amount of the loan will be between a minimum of € 49,000 and a maximum of €1,820,000, and shall not exceed under any circumstances 70 % of the eligible investment or the total amount pending payment.

2.- Availability of funds: the maximum deadline for requesting the availability of funds is 17 June 2016. A maximum of 4 drawdowns will be accepted for the disbursement of the loan.
3.- Interest: The fixed interest rate, which will be defined at the moment of granting the loan and will apply throughout its entire lifetime, will be the result of adding to the arithmetic mean of the Euribor 1-year rate from the month prior to awarding the loan a differential amount determined according to the initial amount of the loan and the guarantees, according to the following criteria:
-a) Tranches which are underwritten by guarantees from banks or reciprocal guarantee companies with coverage for the outstanding principal, with a differential of 0.1%.
b) For tranches without the guarantees indicated in paragraph a) above:
– Up to a maximum of €840,000: 0.1 %.
– For more than €840,000 up to a maximum of €1,400,000: 0.2 %.
– For more than €1,400,000 up to a maximum of €1,820,000: 0.5 %.

In the event of a company having previously received some other type of loan within this framework, in order to calculate the tranches to apply the respective interest rate, the total amount of previously awarded financing will be subtracted from the tranches with the lowest interest rates.

4.- Repayment of the principal of the loan: the loans granted by the IGAPE will have a minimum repayment period of 2 years and a maximum repayment period of 11 years, repayable by quarterly instalments which under no circumstances may exceed the economic and technical life of the elements being financed. A maximum grace period of 1 year may be established.

5.- Early repayment: borrowers may partly or wholly repay the loan, by informing the IGAPE at least 15 business days in advance.

6.- In the event of any full or partial breach of the conditions of the loan agreement, the IGAPE may terminate the agreement and require full or partial repayment of the loan, based on the outstanding capital and interest.

7.- Guarantees: The IGAPE will require suitable guarantees depending on the characteristics of each operation.

This guarantee may consist of the following:
- Guarantees from banks or mutual guarantee companies
- The pledging of financial assets or rights to payment.
- First mortgages affecting real estate.
- Chattel mortgages affecting goods free from other encumbrances.
- Personal guarantees from partners who accredit having a sufficient net asset value

8.- Personal rights: the agreements signed to formalise the operations will be subject to personal rights.

Investments or eligible costs

1.- The following will be considered as eligible assets:

a) Tangible fixed assets: acquisition of the tangible fixed assets required in order to undertake the project, such as land, building work, acquisition of premises, equipment or furnishing.

b) Intangible assets: IT applications, acquisition of intellectual and industrial property, including manufacturing licences and patents, R&D costs and other intangible assets associated with technological innovation projects.

c) Taxes, duties and other levies are not included.

2.- The application must detail all of the applicant’s planned investments and expenses. For each project that is approved, the IGAPE will define in the corresponding individual award document the investments that are eligible for funding until the completion of the implementation period for the project.

3.- The assets eligible for financing must be acquired outright from third parties by the beneficiary. In the case of acquiring assets by means of deferred payment, these must also become the outright property of the beneficiary before the completion date for implementing the project, specifying at this time that the deferred amounts have become due and have been paid.

4.- The eligible expenses must be contracted and paid directly between the beneficiary and the end supplier. Suppliers may not be associated with the applicant company or with its management or supervisory bodies unless expressly indicated in the financing agreement and on request of the applicant.

5.- The investment must be maintained in the centre of work in Galicia for 3 years after the conclusion of the implementation period of the project. The investment that has been financed may be replaced in the event of becoming obsolescent, providing the borrower’s economic activities are maintained in Galicia during the same period. Any assets replacing the obsolete elements may not be subject to financing.

6.- In order for intangible assets to be considered eligible for financing, they must also meet all of the following conditions:
1) they must only be used on the beneficiary’s premises;
2) they will be considered as depreciable assets;
3) they will be acquired from third parties under market conditions,
4) they will be included amongst the company’s assets and will remain on the beneficiary’s premises for at least 3 years.

The implementation period for the project will begin on the date when the applicant presents the request for the loan, and will end on the date indicated in the financing agreement. All of the supporting documents for the implementation and payment of the investments must be dated within this period, as well as any other condition detailed in the financing agreement.

Amount of aid

The loans granted according to this financing method include an implicit discount that is equivalent to the saving on the financial burden that would affect the beneficiary from an alternative loan they may obtain from the financial market.

The percentage of this allowance and the equivalent gross subsidy will be detailed in the agreement for the loan determined by the IGAPE in applying Communication 2008/C 14/02 of the European Commission, and the beneficiary will accept the estimated amount when the loan transaction is implemented.

Deadline for submitting applications

The deadline for presenting applications will begin on the day after the publication of this decision in the Official Bulletin of Galicia, or in the event of coinciding with a Saturday or Bank Holiday in Santiago de Compostela, on the next business day; and will end on 31 March 2016 or once the amount budgeted for credits has been exhausted.

Incompatibility

The funding included in the loans regulated in this document will be considered as de minimis aid.

The IGAPE must be immediately informed in the event of obtaining any other aid or funding, and in any event at the moment of presenting the documentation justifying the project that has been undertaken.

Legislative Reference

Resolution of 3 June 2014 (Official Bulletin of Galicia No. 108 of 09/06/2014) - Regulatory Framework and Call 2014
Resolution of 27 April 2015 (Official Bulletin of Galicia No. 82 of 04/05/2015) – Modification of the Regulatory Framework
Resolution of 10 September 2015 (Official Bulletin of Galicia No. 178 of 17/09/2015) - Modification of the Regulatory Framework

Information and processing in

In order to present an application for funding, the interested party must fill in a form describing their situation and the project, available online at http://www.tramita.igape.es

The following documents in electronic format must be attached to the form:

a) Report from the Risk Information Centre of the Bank of Spain (CIR) corresponding to the last available period, consisting of an electronically signed PDF document which the applicant must obtain from the Virtual Office of the Bank of Spain (currently online at https://sedeelectronica.bde.eres)

b) A report in PDF format, containing at least the following information:
1.- Background information on the company
-Technical and technological capacity: human, technical and material resources, collaborations, cooperation, R&D&I patents, quality and environmental certification.
-Commercial capacity of the company: commercialisation channels, markets, degree of internationalisation, exports.
-Economic capacity of the company: main assets and most significant aspects of its financial statements.


2.- The project
-Origin and justification (necessity, opportunity and appropriateness of the project or action with regard to the company).
-Technical description (content, methodology, phases, etc.)
-Requirements for technical resources (detailed description with estimated prices of new investments).
-Requirements for material resources (description of materials acquired and used).
-Personnel requirements associated with the project.
-External subcontracting (collaborators, scope and phases of collaboration).
- Economic analysis of the project (economic forecasts for the loan period, financing structure, profitability and cash flow forecasts).

3.- The market
- Size, characteristics, competitors, etc.
- A commercial analysis of the product (market quota and comparison to competitors’ products).

After filling in the form, the system application will generate an application form which will be presented using the standardised procedure which must be obtained from the same system application (Appendix I) and which must be signed by the applicant.

The following documentation must be presented together with the application form:

a) Annual accounts corresponding to the last two complete financial years.
b) Recent balance sheet and statement of accounts, signed by the directors.
c) Administrative documentation for the company (deed of incorporation and articles duly registered with the competent authority and any subsequent modifications, and power of attorney for the representative presenting the application, also registered with the competent authority).
d) In the case of activities located in protected natural spaces, a full description of the activities in question.
e) Accreditation of being an activity eligible for financing (IAE or commitment to register form 036).
f) Guarantees provided: in the case of mortgage guarantees, an appraisal carried out by a company authorised by the Bank of Spain for the goods offered as guarantees. A simple note from the Property Registry. In the case of personal guarantees, a copy of a personal income tax statement and properties owned by the guarantors, with a list of their personal assets and debts.
g) Accreditation of the capacity to finance the part of the project not covered by the loan being requested, which must also include all indirect taxes affecting the elements in question. This accreditation may consist of a bank certificate indicating the availability of these funds and/or a communication from the bank indicating that it is prepared to make the financing available.
h) In the case of natural persons, civil partnerships or joint ventures, instead of the documentation indicated in paragraphs a, b and c above, these must present a copy of their personal income tax statement for the last financial year and a copy of all VAT statements, with a summary of the previous financial years and details of regular settlements during the current financial year.

Once the application form has been generated, it must be presented either:

- Electronically; in order to do so, the applicant must have a valid digital certificate according to the X.509 V3 standard, and the person signing the application must be legally authorised to represent the company or body in question. Applications presented electronically must include digital copies of the documents detailed in Article 7.1.4.

- Or on paper at the general registry of the head offices of the IGAPE, at any of the territorial offices of the IGAPE or by any of the means indicated in Article 38.4 of Law 30/1992, on the legal status of public authorities and common administrative procedure, using the standard form (Appendix I) with an ID (electronic document identifier), together with the necessary documentation.

The IGAPE has a Technical Assistance Helpline to help applicants with any questions related to the questionnaire, available by calling 900 81 51 51 or 981 541 147.

Observations

Companies receiving the loans will have 4 months from the date of being informed of the approval of the operation in order to formalise it.

Beneficiaries who receive notification of approval before 29 February 2016 must formalise the process within 3 months of receiving this notification. Beneficiaries who receive notification of approval after this date must formalise the loan before 31 May 2016. If the operation is not formalised within these deadlines, the process will be cancelled and the file will be archived.

Beneficiaries of loans granted before this date may present an application to modify the terms of the financing agreement in order to adapt them to the new conditions, within a period of 30 days from the publication of this decision. This application must be addressed to the Directorate General of the IGAPE and presented at the General Registry of its head office, at any of the territorial offices of the IGAPE or by any of the means indicated in Article 38.4 of Law 30/1992, on the legal status of public authorities and common administrative procedure.