Brussels, 06/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - In order to make it easier for SMEs to gain access to financing, the European commissioner for industry and enterprise, Antonio Tajani, decided in agreement with his internal market colleague, Michel Barnier, to make the SME financing forum - the first gathering of which was held in Brussels on 6 May - a place where there can be top level dialogue between the financial institutions and SMEs. The forum, which will be geared to new strategies, will follow market developments and recommend concrete measures to improve SMEs' access to financing and to the financial markets. Currently, almost 20% of all requests for bank loans are rejected, according to the data given by the European Commission and the ECB.
With the economic recession, there has been a downturn in both supply of and demand for corporate loans. The survey carried out by the ECB in April on the distribution of banking credit showed that bank credit standards are still tight: - 83% of banks have not reviewed their conditions for granting loans to SMEs, and most of them do not plan to ease their conditions in 2010. The credit squeeze endangers the growth and survival of SMEs. Changed requirements in relating to own funds and certain banking regulations makes the financial system more secure, but their overall impact on banking loans has still to be assessed without endangering financial stability. Finally, venture capital markets, which are already squeezed, have suffered from the recession. Insurance companies and pension funds should have the possibility of investing in innovative companies via venture capital funds of a sufficient size to allow economies of scale, which requires making the European venture capital market more effective. Complementary measures are necessary to facilitate the introduction of medium-size firms on the stock exchange, companies that are often ignored by investors. At this stage, investment and liquidity is focused on larger firms, to the detriment of SMEs. The Commission is currently taking stock of the implementation of several directives on transferables markets, which impose obligations on issuers, including the directive on transparency obligations for companies quoted on the stock exchange and that of market abuse - coming under the overriding maxim: “think small first”. (E.H./transl.jl)