Italy’s banking association ABI and Borsa Italiana, the Milan bourse division of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), are forming a €1 billion funding facility, The Wall Street Journal reports. The fund will be aimed at boosting IPOs of various small companies.

The facility will cover three years of the program. Italy’s main banks, including Intesa Sanpaolo and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, will provide loans to newly-listed companies for sums up to twice the fresh capital raised in their IPOs.

Click here for the story from The Wall Street Journal.