European Investment Bank

European Investment Bank

EIB headquarters, East building
Official insignia of the EIB
Founded	1958
Type	International financial institution
Location	Luxembourg
Owner	EU member states
President	Werner Hoyer
Employees	2,000
Mission	EU's long-term lending institution
Website	eib.org

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's nonprofit long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. As a "policy-driven bank" whose shareholders are the member states of the EU, the EIB uses its financing operations to bring about European integration and social cohesion. It should not be confused with the European Central Bank.

The EIB is a publicly owned international financial institution and its shareholders are the EU member states. Thus the member states set the bank's broad policy goals and oversee the two independent decision-making bodies—the board of governors and the board of directors.

It is the world's largest international public lending institution.

In 2009, Caisse des Dépots, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, KfW and European Investment Bank founded the Long-Term Investors Club.

The European Investment Bank was founded in Brussels in 1958 when the Treaty of Rome came into force. It relocated to Luxembourg, its current headquarters, in 1968. By 1999, it had more than 1,000 staff members, a figure that had nearly doubled by 2012; when the EIB was founded in 1958 it had 66 employees.

The EIB Group was formed in 2000, comprising the EIB and the European Investment Fund (EIF), the EU's venture capital arm that provides finances and guarantees for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The EIB is the EIF's majority shareholder, with 62% of the shares. In 2012, the EIB Institute was created, with the goal of promoting "European initiatives for the common good" in EU Member States and candidate and potential candidate countries, as well as EFTA nations.