Instituto de Crédito Oficial is a state-owned bank with the legal structure of a public sector company, attached to the Ministry of Economy and Business via the State Secretariat for Economy and Enterprise Support. From a legal point of view it is a credit institution, and is treated as a State Finance Agency, with its own legal status, assets and treasury, as well as an independent management to carry out its activities. ICO is a state-owned bank and is governed by the financial equilibrium principle, in accordance with its Articles of Incorporation, which were approved in Royal Decree 706/1999 of 30 April. It finances itself on the national and international markets. The debts and obligations it enters into with third parties benefit from the explicit, irrevocable, unconditional and direct guarantee of the Spanish State. Apart from the Institute, the ICO Group comprises Axis, a venture capital firm, and ICO Foundation. Axis was the first venture capital firm to be established in Spain, in 1986, and currently provides equity or quasi-equity instruments to companies to finance their growth. ICO Foundation was created in 1993 in order to promote culture and art. Since 2003 it has existed as an ongoing, not-for-profit, public sector foundation with a national scope and independent assets. ICO also participates as a shareholder in other companies such as CERSA and COFIDES, as well as the European Investment Fund.