Avalis, the public-private company promoted by the Generalitat that offers guarantees to SMEs and self-employed workers, is joining forces with the banking services firm Kenta Capital and launching a debt fund to finance small and medium-sized Catalan enterprises (SMEs). The instrument, presented this Wednesday in Barcelona, is launched with an initial volume of 50 million euros and offers financing conditions that are until now unusual for SMEs: unlike a common loan, companies will have access to a structure known as "bullet".

A political week with the shadow car syndrome of the end of July. Current affairs are speeding up to close issues, whether in Barcelona, Madrid or Salamanca, as if the prospect of a few days' holiday were to make a big difference to the prospect of a return when a new notebook is opened.

The Council of Statutory Guarantees (CSG) has backed the Government's decree to act as guarantor, through the Institut Català de Finances (ICF), for the €5.4m bonds the Court of Auditors has imposed on 34 current and former Generalitat senior officials over the Catalan administration's foreign action between 2011 and 2017. The CSG voted unanimously to validate the plan despite requesting two modifications that Parliament, by majority, has incorporated into the bill: that the involvement of the ICF is "exceptional" and "limited in time" and that it is made clear that those affected have to return the money to the Generalitat in case of a final ruling.

Finally, the Catalan Government has found a legal formula to cover the (totally exorbitant) bails imposed by the Court of Auditors on 34 current and former Generalitat officials who are held responsible for the Generalitat's foreign action between 2012 and 2017. The Catalan Minister of Economy, Jaume Giró, explained yesterday that the executive council had approved the creation of a risk fund endowed with €10m to which all public servants can apply, with the aim of covering the economic damages that may arise from the exercise of their powers. Initially this fund will depend on the Institut Català de Finances, but in the long run an external entity will be created that will be like a public insurance company that will cover everything that is left out of the private insurance that the Generalitat has contracted.