(Limited liability) consortia and Confidi (credit collective guarantee cooperatives), are usually set up by business operators involved in the same business area, and aim at:

guaranteeing full or partial coverage of losses due to the default of the member(s) they stand surety for;
obtaining more substantial credits from banks;
obtaining financing at lower rates compared to current market rates.


Confidi are non-profit mutual institutions. They mainly carry out the following activities:

enter into agreements with credit institutions;
establish guarantee fundsi;
define the use of guarantees;
manage a fund made up of the money members pay every year and funds provided by institutions aiming at lowering financing interest rates.

By using Guarantee Funds, Confidi cover member enterprise insolvencies, within the limits of the relevant security. Should the guarantee funds be insufficient, any residual debt is paid up by withdrawing money from the overall personal securities, by sharing the amount pro-quota among all guarantors, who shall pay pro rata, according to the value of each single guarantee .

The development registered by the Confidi was also possible thanks to the financial support provided by the Chambers of Commerce. In fact, Chambers provide funds aiming at lowering interest rates of financing granted by banks to member SMEs.
Similarly, Chambers also support Confidi by granting subsidies aiming at enhancing collective guarantees represented by guarantee funds and guarantees granted to the same end.