AECM, European Association of Mutual Guarantee Societies

AECM's member organisations support SME access to finance

AECM's member organisations support healthy SMEs with a sound business project, who would otherwise not be able to access loan finance due to a lack of collateral and own funds. By granting a guarantee, guarantee societies provide a substitute for the missing collateral and allow the credit institution to grant the loan by sharing in the default risk.

In this way, guarantee societies make a major contribution to economic growth, social cohesion and regional development in the European Union, since SMEs represent over 98% of all companies and provide a large part of GDP and employment.

Guarantee schemes in Europe

Given the economic importance of SMEs, guarantee organisations have been set up in nearly all European Member States as well as in Turkey. In addition, guarantee schemes also exist beyond Europe, e.g. in the US, Latin america, Asia and the Mediterranean region.

AECM, as the European association of mutual guarantee societies, represents the interests of its national members towards the European institutions and multilateral bodies, such as the OECD, the World Bank and the Bank of International settlement. AECM also acts as a platform for exchange between its members and provide technical information about the guarantee sector.