The SBCI Brexit Loan Scheme is offered in partnership with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and is supported by the InnovFin SME Guarantee Facility with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments.
The loans are available through AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank. Approval of loans are subject to the bank’s own credit policies and procedures.
Step 1 – The applicant must first submit an Eligibility Application Form to the SBCI to check if it is eligible for the scheme. If the SBCI determines that the applicant is eligible, the applicant will be notified in writing and will be supplied with an eligibility code.
Step 2 – The applicant must provide this eligibility confirmation letter/code to the relevant financial institution when applying for a loan.
Step 3 – The applicant must submit their credit application with the eligible code to the following on-lenders: AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank.
The scheme operates from March 2018 to December 2021 or until the scheme has been fully subscribed.
For more information on applications click here
Viable micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small mid-cap enterprises that meet the eligibility criteria.
SMEs are defined by the standard EU definition [Commission Regulation 2003/361/EC] as enterprises that:
A small mid-cap is an enterprise that is not an SME but has fewer than 500 employees.
SMEs / small mid-caps that:
SMEs/small mid-caps must satisfy one of the Brexit criteria and one of the innovation criteria:
Brexit Criteria
1. Export products, services or raw materials to the UK (including Northern Ireland) equate to at least 15% of business turnover.
2. Import products, services or raw materials from the UK (including Northern Ireland) equate to at least 15% of business turnover.
3. The combined exposure (of 1 and 2 above) equates to at least 15% of business turnover.
4. The business is indirectly exposed to the UK (including Northern Ireland), i.e. transacts products, services or raw materials with an enterprise that is directly exposed to the UK (including Northern Ireland) equating to at least 15% of turnover.
Innovation Criteria
Please note that an up-to-date business plan will be required to be provided to bank(s) in all cases when applying for an SBCI Brexit Scheme Loan.
The other documents detailed in No. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 will be required to be provided to the SBCI as part of the Eligibility Application Form.
1. At least 80% of the loan will be spent on research and innovation activities with the remainder on costs necessary to enable such activities.
Evidence required from applicant: The business plan given to the finance provider must reflect the details of the expenditures and activities to be undertaken.
2. You intend to enter a new product or geographical market, and the required investment is higher than 50% of average annual turnover in the preceding five years.
Evidence required from applicant: The business plan given to the finance provider must reflect details of the expenditures.
3. You will have registered at least one technology right in the last 24 months and the purpose of the loan is to enable use of this technology right.
Evidence required from applicant: Evidence of technology right, eg patent, utility model, design right, protection certificates.
4. You are an SME and research and innovation costs represent at least 10% of total operating costs in at least one of the last three years preceding this loan application, or in the case where there is no financial history, as per current financial statements.
Evidence required from applicant: Costs to be certified in a letter by an accountant practising in the Republic of Ireland.
5. You are a small mid-cap and research and innovation costs represent either:
- at least 15% of total operating costs in at least one of the three years preceding this loan application, or
- at least 10% per year of total operating costs in the three years preceding this loan application.
Evidence required from applicant: Costs to be certified in a letter by an accountant practising in the Republic of Ireland.
6. You have been awarded a research and development or innovation prize by an EU institution or EU body over the last 24 months.
Evidence required from applicant: Appropriate evidence of prize.
7. You have received a grant, loan or guarantee from a European research and innovation scheme (e.g. Horizon 2020 or FP7) or regional/national research or innovation support scheme in the last three years, and are confirming that the scheme loan is not covering the same expense.
Evidence required from applicant: Appropriate evidence of the grant, loan or guarantee.
8. You are an early-stage SME and have received an investment over the last 24 months from a venture capital investor, business angel.
Evidence required from applicant: Appropriate evidence of the investment to be provided.
9. You intend to use the loan to invest in producing, developing or implementing new or substantially improved products, processes or services or production or delivery methods (including business models) that are innovative, and where there is a risk of technological, industrial or business failure as evidenced by an external expert.
Evidence required from applicant: The business plan must demonstrate those risks of failure and be evaluated by an external expert, e.g. an accountant, engineer, the finance provider.
10. You are a “fast-growing enterprise“ operating for less than 12 years with an average annualised employee or turnover growth greater than 20% a year, over a three-year period and with ten or more employees at the beginning of that period.
Evidence required from applicant: Evidence to be certified by an accountant practising in the Republic of Ireland.
11. You are operating in a market for less than seven years and research and innovation costs represent at least 5% of total operating costs in at least one of the three years preceding the loan application or in the case of an enterprise (and particularly a start-up) without any financial history, according to current financial statements.
Evidence required from applicant: Costs to be certified in a letter by an accountant practising in Republic of Ireland.
State aid is defined as any aid granted by a member state or through state resources (any state body, agency or department). State aid incurred is not equal to the amount of the loans. See Regulations for further details.
Loans in this scheme are subject to the de minimis State aid threshold of €200,000 per undertaking received in the last three-year fiscal period, i.e. the current year and the previous two years. The total amount of de minimis aid given to a single recipient performing road freight transport for hire or reward cannot exceed €100,000 over a three-year fiscal period.
If an enterprise has received State aid during this period it may not be able to avail of the maximum loan amount of €1,500,000 but may be able to avail of a lower loan level. For example, if an undertaking has received a grant of €160,000 during the preceding three-year fiscal period and then applies for a three-year loan of €700,000 under the scheme, it would incur an amount of €44,800 of State aid thereby exceeding the €200,000 State aid threshold. Options for the undertaking would be to reduce either the amount or the term of the loan being sought. To identify the amount of State aid incurred for each loan amount and term, see the State Aid Matrix here.
The information provided by the applicants will be shared the by SBCI with its authorised agents and the Department of Business Enterprise and Innovation & the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Under EU Regulations, the European Investment Fund will publish certain information subject to the applicant’s consent.
You must provide a separate business plan when applying for a loan under the Brexit Loan Scheme. The requirement for a business plan under the scheme is to assist you in reviewing your business and to plan for Brexit and future business strategies.
The template below sets out the suggested headings to be used in the preparation of your business plan and the content. The level of detail will be determined by the complexity of your business, the level of finance being sought and the finance provider’s prior knowledge of you and your business. Complex businesses with multiple products and outlets would require more detailed plans than less complex businesses and where the applicant is well known to the financial provider.
To assist in determining the level of detail that you should include, the headings have been presented in the form of core and optional sections with the core sections set out in bold type. The core sections must be completed for loans <€150k. All sections should be completed for loans >€150k.
1. Executive summary
Brief description of the business
History of the business, key milestones. Goals and overall strategy of the business.
Describe the key products or services
Describe each product in terms of life cycle, target customers, geographical split of sales, distribution channels, marketing.
Set out employee numbers by broad function. Senior management team and key personnel.
Legal structure of the business e.g. limited company, sole trader, partnership etc.
Name of accountant
Other advisers relevant to the business e.g. solicitors, engineers etc.
Principal suppliers and what products and/or services they provide. Details of terms of trade (not necessary if well known to the finance provider).
Location of business premises including value, debt, etc.
If premises are rented, detail the amount and lease details. Key equipment used for the business, detailing its value and how it is funded.
List the key risks affecting the business and how it responds to those
List key competitors and business position relative to them. Consider SWOT analysis of the business.
What are the economic conditions the business is facing?
Is the business exposed to other risks, e.g. foreign exchange or interest rate fluctuations?
Latest financial accounts
Details of the business’s funding (loans, security, finance providers).
Financial projections.
Personal data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This includes data which either by itself or with other data held by us or available to us, can be used to identify you or other people. Your personal data comprises personal information and financial information relating to your business (the "Applicant") that we have obtained from you. We collect your personal data directly from you and we may also obtain it indirectly from other sources, including from lenders ("Financial Intermediaries") that are participating in the SBCI Brexit Loan Scheme (the "Loan Scheme"). The SBCI will act as data controller in relation to personal data you provide directly to us.
Personal data also includes special categories of personal data. We do not usually ask you for this type of information nor do we obtain it from third party sources. The exception is data concerning your health – this may be processed if you volunteer this information to us or to Financial Intermediaries for instance, if you tell us that you are unable to meet repayments because you have a health condition. Personal data also includes data relating to criminal convictions and offence details and we may process these if fraud prevention checks reveal a fraud or if we identify a fraud in relation to your application.
What we may use and process your personal data for and the relevant legal basis
We are required by data protection law to indicate to you the legal basis which relates to our use and processing of your personal data. This may include (as relevant):
The primary purpose for which we use your personal data is to assess your eligibility for participation in the Loan Scheme. This requires an assessment to be carried out by the SBCI to determine whether the Applicant meets the following criteria:
(i) the Brexit related criteria;
(ii) the Innovation criteria; and
(iii) the State Aid criteria.
Your personal data and other information you submit in the Application Form may be processed automatically. However, any final decision about whether you are eligible for the Loan Scheme will [always] involve human decision-making.
The SBCI may disclose personal data provided by you to third parties including the following: (a) Financial Intermediaries, participating in the Loan Scheme, including for the purpose of confirming your eligibility; (b) Government Departments including the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, both of which are partners in the Loan Scheme, including for reporting purposes and in response to parliamentary questions; (c) the European Investment Fund (“EIF”) and its agents, the European Investment Bank (“EIB”), the European Court of Auditors, the European Commission (the “Commission”) and its agents including the European Anti-Fraud Office, other European Union institutions or bodies and body which are authorised by applicable law to carry out audit and control activities. Such personal data may be held for a period of 7 years after the later of (i) the termination of the relevant agreement between the SBCI and the European Investment Fund or (ii) 30 June 2022. (d) we may share your personal data with our professional advisors and our auditors; (e) regulatory authorities, government agencies if required to do so by law or where we are required to do so in response to requests from all such bodies; and (f) to our service providers (including the NTMA) who act as data processors on our behalf.
We will keep your personal data for as long as we need it to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected (see above). We will keep certain personal data after that in order to comply with legal and regulatory requirements. The criteria we use to determine data retention periods for personal data include the following:
There are various rights under data protection law and these will not always be relevant to you. We have described below what the rights are but please do be aware that they will not be engaged in all circumstances. If you wish to exercise any of these rights please contact us (details below).
Your rights where data is transferred to the EIF, EIB or the European Commission
Should you wish to exercise your right to verify, correct, delete or otherwise modify personal data relating to that held by the EIF, the EIB or the Commission please address your request to the following:
If you have questions or queries about this data protection notice you can contact the SBCI Data Protection Officer at the details below:
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority in Ireland, which is the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. For more information visit: https://www.dataprotection.ie
See link below
“Aid” means state and/or Commission funding which, but for an exemption granted pursuant to regulations adopted by the EU Commission (including but not limited to the De Minimis Regulation), meets the criteria in Article 107(1) of the Treaty on European Union.
“Commission” means the Commission of the European Union.
“Customer” is used to refer to the SME or Small Mid-cap borrower.
“DAFM” means the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
“DBEI” means the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
“De Minimis Regulation” means EU Regulation No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid.
“EIB” means the European Investment Bank.
“EIF” means the European Investment Fund.
“Facility” means the debt facility offered to the Customer.
“Finance Documents” means the documents entered into in connection with the Facility.
“Non-Co-Operative Jurisdiction” means any jurisdiction that does not cooperate with the European Union in relation to the application of internationally agreed tax standards (i.e. any jurisdiction classified as “non-compliant” by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and its Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, from time to time, unless otherwise notified by the EIF).
“Pre-Eligibility Application Form” means in respect of each Facility, the completed pre-eligibility application form as delivered by the Customer to the SBCI.
“SBCI” means the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland
“SBCI Scheme” means the SBCI Brexit Loan Scheme.
“SME” means a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise which employs fewer than 250 persons and has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million. (See commission recommendation 2003/361/EC for further details (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32003H0361&from=EN)
“Small Mid-cap” means an enterprise within the meaning of Article 1 of the Title I of the Annex of the Commission Recommendation (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32003H0361&from=EN) which:
(a) has up to 499 employees calculated in accordance with Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Title I of the Annex of the Commission Recommendation; and
(b) is not an SME.
The Borrower must comply with the following
The Customer must use the loan proceeds for:
The Customer must not use the loan proceeds for:
The customer must confirm that, as at the date of the contractual documents relating to the Facility entered into by the Customer, it satisfies the eligibility criteria for the SBCI Scheme and that it undertakes to procure that it shall at all times comply with those eligibility criteria.
The Customer undertakes to confirm the amount of Aid received by it and the amount of Aid receivable by it under the Facility, in each case in respect of Aid under the De Minimis Regulation and if the Customer receives, under the SBCI Scheme or otherwise, aid in excess of what that Customer is permitted to receive by law, the Customer shall return to the Bank for onward transmission to the SBCI any such excess aid received under the SBCI Scheme in breach of law together with any other amount due in respect of that aid immediately upon: (i) the Customer becoming aware of such excess receipt; and/or (ii) the Bank notifying the Customer of same; and
The Customer undertakes to maintain and be able to produce all documentation related to any information supplied in connection with the Facility for a period of seven (7) years after the termination of the SBCI Scheme.
There is a two-step process to apply for a loan:
See eligibility criteria below.
No, these loans cannot be used to refinance existing debt such as term loans, leases or HP.
The resources are limited and therefore being targeted towards where they are most needed, to support cashflow impacted by Brexit creating additional credit.
You can get more than one loan provided that the total of those loans does not exceed €1.5m. A separate eligibility code is required for each loan
This depends on the loan amount involved and if the bank has all the information it needs to process an application. The banks' websites provide details on their loan application times.
Yes, you can apply to all banks, however your eligibility code can only be used once. When you receive a loan offer from a bank they will lock down your code and this cannot be used by another bank. If you decide after that point to proceed with another bank, you will need to re-apply for a new eligibility code.
The maximum amount of loan(s) you can get under the scheme is €1,500,000.
The full amount of the loan may have not been available due to the de minimis threshold. Also, approval of a loan under the scheme is subject to the bank's credit policy. The maximum loan amount will not be appropriate in every case. If you are not satisfied with the reason given you can use the bank’s appeal process.
Loans less than €500K should not require security.
Yes, provided the total of those loans is less than €500k. Loans greater than €500k may be secured.
The interest rate charged is at the discretion of the bank but is limited at a maximum interest rate of 4%. The interest rate should be fixed for the term of the loan.
As per the EU definition:
State aid can occur whenever State resources are used to aid an entity engaged in economic activity that potentially could distort competition and trade.
The European Commission allows small amounts of state aid to be given to an entity as long as the aid complies with the De Minimis Regulations and remains below a certain threshold. Examples of sources of state aid may include funding under schemes from Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia, or a Local Enterprise Office.
The maximum amount of de minimis aid any single recipient can receive is €200,000 (gross grant equivalent) over a three-year fiscal period. The total amount of de minimis aid given to a single recipient performing road freight transport for hire or reward cannot exceed €100,000 over a three-year fiscal period.
For loans under this scheme, the amount of de minimis aid which is provided to a borrower determined by the size and duration of the loan under the de minimis rules.
The de minimis aid is not equal to the total amount of the loan.
Where you have received State aid, you will have received a letter from the State body that provided it. Examples of State aid granting bodies include Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia or the Local Enterprise Office.
It stands for the “Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community”. It is the standard system used in the European Union for classifying business activity.
NACE codes are divided into sectors such as retail, manufacturing, services. A searchable list of NACE Codes is available on the SBCI website.
A business would be considered to be a family business where the members of one family, or a small number of related families control the business, for example
It means that the main presence of business is in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland).
The policy underpinning the scheme is aimed at delivering innovation in small businesses facing the challenge of Brexit, especially food companies. Agriculture working capital was covered in the SBCI Agriculture Cashflow Support Scheme that was released in 2017 and is excluded under the terms of the European Commission’s Innovfin support for the scheme.
Indirectly exposed means that you are conducting business with an enterprise that is itself exposed to the UK (including Northern Ireland) market.
No, copies are sufficient.
The definition is broad and can includes not only technological innovation and research but also any innovation relating to the organisation (e.g. structure changes/improvements), processes (e.g. production improvements), marketing (e.g. advertising/packaging/labels etc)
Yes, you need to prepare a business plan in all cases regardless of the loan amount.
You must give the business plan to the finance provider.
The applicant is responsible for preparing the business plan. The SBCI encourages all applicants to consider using the expertise of an accountant/financial adviser in that process
A guidance note is available further up on this page.
You need tick only one of the Brexit Options that most applies to your business and only one of the Innovation Options that most applies to your business.
It is important that all the declarations at the end of the form are completed as well.
This is a person who is authorised to sign declarations on behalf of the business e.g. the business owner or the CEO.