EBA publishes the report on SMEs and the SME Supporting Factor
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a Report on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which analyses (i) the evolution of lending trends and conditions for SMEs, (ii) the effective riskiness of EU SMEs over a full economic cycle and (iii) the consistency of own funds requirements laid down in the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) for credit risk on exposures to SMEs. Overall, the results of the EBA analysis show limited effectiveness of the SME Supporting Factor (SF). However, more data is needed before drawing firm conclusions and, therefore, the EBA recommends continued monitoring of the application of the SF.