Preface: recent developments in financial modelling and risk management

In the last decade, a wide range of innovative financial instruments has taken by storm the financial markets. In 2015 for instance, the European Commission (EC) introduced the definition of “innovative financial instruments” as instruments that are complementary to grants or subsidies and as part of a move towards a smarter “funding mix”. Loans, equity and quasi-equity instrument and guarantees are considered as a particularly effective way to increase and enhance the impact of EU funding while compared to the traditional grant-based system (EC, 2015), therefore, they represent a way to further promote a more responsible, result-oriented use of European funds by the corporate world.