June 11, 2007
EUR 500 million for SMEs - Commerzbank and KfW sign new global loan agreement
Commerzbank and KfW Bankengruppe today signed a global loan agreement worth EUR 500 million. The two institutions are thus continuing their successful cooperation in the field of SME promotion. "The risk-adjusted interest rates and standardised handling procedures are an incentive for our sales division to issue the favourable KfW funds," said Martin Blessing, the member of the Commerzbank Board of Managing Directors with oversight of the SME bank, at the signing ceremony. Commerzbank will pass the funding advantage derived from the KfW refinancing on to its SME customers in full by granting them loans at favourable interest rates. Dr Günther Bräunig, Member of the Board of Managing Directors of KfW Bankengruppe, explained, "We saw strong growth in the German economy in the first quarter of the year and our indicators point to a pleasing 6.4% year-on-year growth in corporate investment in 2007. This global loan will therefore enable us to promote investment finance and to provide further support for the economic upturn in Germany."
The global loan is a KfW promotional product that is offered for the purpose of refinancing SME and housing loans and is available to all credit institutions. It offers the banks flexible scope for lending and is easy to handle. In the SME financing segment, since 2002 KfW Bankengruppe has disbursed more than EUR 10 billion to German commercial banks and Landesbanks.
The funds provided under the global loan will be made available, in particular, to small and medium-sized enterprises for investment measures in their business or enterprise that require medium to long-term financing. Flexible terms, risk-adjusted pricing, on request a variable interest rate and the simple and fast transfer of information to KfW via the internet - all these features make the global loan a product that is tailored to the needs of the market. "Global loans enable us to respond more flexibly to the needs of our customers and to offer them customised financing solutions," explained Mr Blessing.
Dr Bräunig placed particular emphasis on the longstanding successful cooperation with Commerzbank in the field of SME financing. "Commerzbank is a strong partner for marketing our promotional products," observed Dr Bräunig. This global loan represents the fourth agreement concluded between the two institutions, the first global loan agreement having been concluded in 2002. The present transaction takes the volume in this field of business to around EUR 2.8 billion.
For press enquiries please contact:
Commerzbank AG - Beate Schlosser - Tel: +49 69 1362 2137 - beate.schlosser@commerzbank.com
KfW Bankengruppe - Nathalie Drücke - Tel: +49 69-7431 2098 - nathalie.druecke@kfw.de
