Finnvera joins The Montreal Group

Finnvera has become a member of The Montreal Group, a global forum for state-owned development banks focused on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. 

The Montreal Group has now eight members from eight different countries around the world: Canada, Brazil, France, China, Mexico, India, Russia and Finland. The Group’s name is derived from the city in which it was founded – Montreal, Canada – in 2012.

The objective of The Montreal Group is to foster international co-operation and networking and to share best practices and knowledge between members. The Group provides a neutral, global platform for mutual learning and for the exchange of experience and expertise among the members. In 2014/2015 the members are focusing on three key topics: portfolio risk management, green financing and debt guarantees.

“We believe that Finnvera could give a Nordic point of view to the discussions in The Montreal Group and could also give an input to developing SME financing. On the other hand, the membership offers Finnvera an excellent possibility to network, benchmark and capture global trends in SME financing in order to better support the Finnish SMEs seeking growth from global markets”, says Annamarja Paloheimo, Senior Vice President from Finnvera. Mrs. Paloheimo was elected to the Board of Directors of The Montreal Group in the last Annual Meeting held in Rio de Janeiro in April 2014.

“Finnvera is a versatile financing company whose business model is well known around the world. Finnvera’s contribution to the Group will be a great asset and we can all learn much from them”, quotes Michel Bergeron, Chairman of The Montreal Group.

“I can attest to the fact that all the members at the Rio Annual Meeting were delighted with the confirmation of Finnvera’s membership”, added Sandra D. Péloquin, Secretary General for The Montreal Group.

For additional information on The Montreal Group, kindly visit the homepages: www.themontrealgroup.org/en/home.html

Team Finnvera together with executives of The Montreal Group in the Annual Meeting in Rio de Janeiro. From left: Erno Ihto and Eeva-Maija Pietikäinen from Finnvera, Sandra D. Péloquin (Secretary General for The Montreal Group), Annamarja Paloheimo from Finnvera and Michel Bergeron (Chairman of the Board of The Montreal Group).