Just three days ahead of the EU referendum, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced a £100 million (€129 million; $146 million) investment in a fund managed by the marketplace lender (MPL) Funding Circle targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the UK.
The transaction is the first time that the EIB has deployed capital in an MPL and is part of a wider plan to further encourage SMEs and investors to use the alternative financing model across Europe as banks continue their retreat from lending.
