European Investment Bank Activity Report 2017

A record number of deals shows that the European Investment Bank is supporting the smaller companies and start-ups that will boost growth and jobs for decades, in addition to its traditional business with large entities. The Report outlines the EU bank's activity during 2017, including case studies on its support for: Innovation: an Estonian supercapacitor start-up ; SMEs: a Portuguese manufacturer of science toys ; Infrastructure: finance for small Italian water companies to save waste ; Environment: a French company with a clever new way to recycle valuable titanium ; Global development: a transformative mobile banking company in Ethiopia. The Report also includes reports on EIB investment in cybersecurity, as well as an economic study on the future impact of its investments. The Report concludes with sections on the Bank's capital markets borrowing and its governance, including its anti-fraud investigations, sustainability, and complaints mechanism.

The European Investment Bank is the world's biggest multilateral lender. The only bank owned by and representing the interests of the EU countries, the EIB finances Europe's economic growth. Over six decades the Bank has backed start-ups like Skype and massive schemes like the Øresund Bridge linking Sweden and Denmark. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the EIB Group includes the European Investment Fund, a specialist financer of small and medium-sized enterprises.