Surety bonds for public grants

What are surety bonds for public grants

A surety bond for public grants is the guarantee that many disbursing bodies — AGEA, ANPAL, Italian Regions, Ministries, GSE — require in order to pay in advance, or to consolidate, a non-repayable grant or a subsidised loan. It protects the body against possible revocations or repayments due to missing reporting and accompanies companies throughout the entire process of the call.

The most common types are three. The advance payment bond, required to receive a portion of the grant immediately, before reporting — typical of AGEA OCM Wine calls and ANPAL New Skills Fund financing. The reporting bond (or repayment bond), which covers the body if the grant already disbursed must be recovered. The training course activation bond, required by many Italian Regions from accredited bodies managing funded training programmes.

With the launch of the NRRP (Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan), the framework has become even more articulated: many national and regional calls integrated into the Plan require surety bonds compliant with ministerial guidelines and with the 30% advance clause. The same applies to calls co-financed by ERDF, EAFRD, ESF+ and Horizon Europe funds, where the guarantee must comply with the standard template of the managing authority.

To be accepted, the bond must be issued by an authorised company, provide for waiver of the right of prior recourse and operate at first demand within the timeframe set by the call (generally 15-30 days). Issuance times vary: 24-48 hours for most policies, up to 72 hours for AGEA calls that require specific supporting documentation. For over 30 years we have been issuing surety bonds aligned with the requirements of the main disbursing bodies, with digital signature and delivery via certified email (PEC).