The EIB Group, comprising the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), has invested €876 million in a new Santander securitisation. The transaction will enable Santander to provide around €1.43 billion in lending to support the green transition and strengthen the competitiveness of small and medium businesses and mid-caps in Spain, support job creation and help retain talent. Of this figure, €108 million will go towards loans for women entrepreneurs and businesses that are owned or managed primarily by women, and more than €162 million will support the green transition.
The agreement between the EIB Group and Banco Santander will improve access to finance for small and medium businesses and mid-caps, helping them to meet their working capital and liquidity needs while offsetting the impact of inflation, high energy prices and high interest rates on investment.
The agreement was signed in Madrid by Marco Marrone, chief investment officer of the EIF, Joan Basora, head of the Multinational Financial Institutions Division at the EIB, and Catalina Mejía García, chief financial officer of Banco Santander Spain.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises are a vital driver of growth, innovation and employment in Europe. This investment reinforces the EIF’s commitment to improving access to finance for Spanish small and medium businesses and mid-caps, particularly those pursuing sustainable projects and those led by women,” said EIF Chief Investment Officer Marco Marrone.
“This transaction demonstrates how the long-standing partnership between the EIB and Santander continues to channel financing to small and medium businesses and mid-caps, the backbone of the Spanish economy,” said Joan Basora, head of the Multinational Financial Institutions Division at the EIB. “By mobilising private investment, the EIB is helping to drive growth, create jobs and strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion across the country.”
Catalina Mejía, Chief Financial Officer of Banco Santander Spain, said: “Our partnership with the EIB Group enables us to continue strengthening our support for Spanish SMEs and mid-caps, broadening access to finance to drive their growth, advance the sustainable transition and contribute to our country’s economic development and competitiveness.”
Under the transaction, the EIB will invest approximately €476 million and the EIF €400 million, alongside other private investors. The EIF’s investment is made through a guarantee embedded in the Class A2 securities. This is the first securitisation transaction carried out in Spain with a guarantee embedded directly in the securitisation notes.
The transaction once again highlights the EIB Group’s role in promoting financial instruments such as securitisation, which help unlock capital for green projects, reduce risk for financial institutions and support the EU savings and investments union, one of the EIB Group’s eight strategic priorities. It will also contribute to other EIB Group strategic priorities, including climate action and environmental sustainability and economic, social and territorial cohesion.
Photo caption, from left to right: Joan Basora, head of the Multinational Financial Institutions Division at the EIB, and Catalina Mejía García, chief financial officer of Banco Santander Spain and Marco Marrone, Chief Investment Officer at the EIF.
EIB Group
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group is the financing arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States, and one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion in new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects under eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships and the savings and investments union. Beyond long-term loans for large infrastructure, the EIB Group crowds in private investment for high-risk innovative projects and businesses, with a growing role in Europe’s markets for venture debt, venture capital, guarantees and securitisations. In 2025, the EIB Group completed financing and investment operations in Spain totalling around €11 billion, which came alongside an additional €2.9 billion under the Regional Resilience Fund (NextGenerationEU loans).
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is the subsidiary of the EIB Group specialised in providing guarantees and equity to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses and startups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, through its extensive network of partnering banks and investment funds, the EIF mobilises private investment and nurtures the ecosystem of venture capital funds to support innovative European entrepreneurs. With the support of all 27 EU governments, the EIF has joined forces with institutional investors in a pan-European alliance to mobilise up to €80 billion for investment into innovative companies scaling up to become global leaders. The joint effort will expand the size and scope of the highly successful European Tech Champions Initiative, which has helped create 15 European mega-funds and scale 45 companies, including 12 unicorns, since being established three years ago.
Santander
Banco Santander (SAN SM) is a leading commercial bank founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain, and one of the world’s largest banks by market capitalisation. The group’s activities are organised into five global business units: Retail & Commercial Banking, Openbank, Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB), Wealth Management & Insurance, and Payments. This model enables the bank to make the most of its unique combination of global scale and local leadership. Santander aims to be the best open platform for financial services for individuals, SMEs, businesses, financial institutions and governments, and its mission is to contribute to the progress of people and businesses by doing things in a simple, personalised and fair way. In the first quarter of 2026, Banco Santander had €1.4 trillion in total customer deposits, more than 176 million customers, 6,600 branches and 185,000 employees.
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