A Guide to SME Finance is a brief guide to designing and implementing an SME finance program within a commercial bank or other financial institution, such as an NGO. This work covers the rationale behind SME finance why it makes sense for a bank to enter this market sector, followed by a step-by-step approach to designing and implementing the program. Munro highlights the need to automate the lending process, and offers a lengthy description of how this can be accomplished. Examples of loan application, analysis, and approval forms and templates are included along with instructions for use. Additional formats are provided for loan officer goals and periodic reviews, portfolio and relationship profitability management, as well as a model credit score card to use as a 'sift' for loan applicants.

The 9th edition of the Scoreboard on Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs report provides data from 48 countries around the world on SME lending, alternative finance instruments and financing conditions, as well as information on policy initiatives to improve SME access to finance.

"This book, titled SME Finance: Constraints and an Information Asymmetric Perspective, studies the gap between bank financing and the small and medium sized enterprises (SME) sector, based on the economic theories of information asymmetry and agency theory. Access to finance continues to remain one of the key constraints faced by SMEs to start and expand businesses, particularly in the developing economies where access to bank loans is subject to the availability of collateral. The SME financing gap, studied from the perspectives of both the key actors - banks and SMEs - is well presented in this book. The authors have used Sequential Explanatory Design, a mixed methodology, to collect data from SMEs and banks. The econometric model of the study represented SMEs' debt accessibility as a function of independent variables of loan repayment capacity, financial information, characteristics of the firm and owner and bank loan characteristics. The book provides empirical evidence that SME financing constraints are caused by factors arising from SMEs as well as the banks, primarily SMEs' high information opacity and banks' imposition of collateral to offset the credit risk. In the estimation of the econometric model, the size of collateral and owner's equity were among the most significant predictor variables. Likewise, the thematic analysis of interview data of credit officers to understand the banks' lending behavior evidenced a strong positive relationship between the size of the collateral and owner's equity and access to bank loans. SMEs' high information opacity and credit risk induced adverse selection and credit rationing on the part of finance providers. The findings of this book contribute towards academic literature on developing economies characterized by limited data available for academic and empirical research. This book provides a unique example of rigorous research on SME finance within an information economics framework. The theoretical issues are nicely balanced by the practical application of information economics to an emerging market. It can be used as a reference by researchers, academics, practitioners and policy makers in the areas of development finance, banking, development economics, microfinance and rural development. In addition, it can be used as an academic reference for a finance subject at the Master's or Doctoral level. The book is relevant to key stakeholders in understanding the debt inaccessibility from SMEs and the banks in drafting policies and measures to address the SME financing gap"--

This book explores how the global financial and European sovereign debt crises have forced small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to reassess and adapt their funding strategies. At the heart of the matter is the worsening access to bank credit for such enterprises. Through this discussion we learn how crucial an understanding of SME-financing is to policy makers, in light of the fact that SMEs dominate the business landscape in Europe and are the main drivers of employment, growth and innovation in the European economy. Contributing chapters present expert analysis and investigate many topics including the problems faced by SMEs in accessing bank credit and the cost of funding and its determinants. Particular attention is also given to how credit-constrained enterprises may reformulate their funding strategies by employing alternative, non-bank, financial resources, and how regulators could support SMEs in broadening and improving their funding opportunities.

This book explores current financing options for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), with particular insight into the European market. The authors position SME funding within a risk-averse lending environment with high regulatory costs on business loans, which has arisen from the recent financial crisis and new European bank capital regulations. Chapters in the book demonstrate how and why SMEs may be forced to leave the market and posit that shadow banking and other alternative funding options are viable channels for raising funds. A new and innovative SME credit risk model is also presented. This book will appeal to all who share an interest in sustainable solutions to issues in SME financing.

This report monitors SME and entrepreneur access to finance in 37 countries.

This book analyses the financing problems of Greek small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), within a liberalized financial system and within an economic environment of fiscal and monetary constraints. Using recent data covering a ten-year period, the main aim of the research is to explain the interdependence between the situation of the banking sector generally and that of small and medium enterprises. The author argues that the reluctance of banks to lend to Greek companies because of the strict financing constraints, due to the national debt crisis, serves to exacerbate the cycle of economic recession. This factor seriously undermines the efforts of Greek companies to develop growth opportunities, and negatively affects their competitiveness as well as their ability to strengthen their market position. The author examines the supply and demand aspect of the problem: there is lower demand for lending due to the decline of demand for goods and services as well as a tightening of banks’credit standards, whilst on the supply side, the deteriorating financial situation of banks and their willingness to avoid increasing risk are important contributing factors. Finally, the author presents the main conclusions of the analyses carried out in the previous sections of the book and discusses some relevant recommendations for future research. Building on the extant literature, this book analyses the problem from the point of view of both businesses and the banking sector. The study is useful for scholars, businesses and policy decision makers who are interested in the problem of small and medium-sized enterprises financing.