BRUSSELS, 6 June 2017 – The European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) together with 4 other European banking associations (EAPB, EBF, EMF-ECBC and ESBG) presented today, after discussion with the European SME organisations, a set of high-level principles regarding the communication between SMEs and banks around loan applications. The principles aim to support the dialogue necessary through the provision of better information both from a business to a bank when finance is sought and from the bank to the business when finance cannot be provided, where initiatives to facilitate this dialogue have not been developed at national level.
”Servicing SMEs is in the very nature of co-operative banks -which are deeply anchored to the local economy and whose mission is to accompany members and clients, as well as the community they belong to, in the long term. It is therefore natural for EACB to participate in this exercise.” says Mr Herve Guider, EACB, General Manager. “There are important differences between Member States, between individual banks and indeed individual SMEs as to the way the SME financing process and the interaction between them is organised. These principles have been designed in such a way as to allow local markets to adjust to their specific circumstances and respect national frameworks already in place.”
EACB Contacts :
Head of Department Retail: Marieke VAN BERKEL (Tel.: +32 2 286 98 47), m.vanberkel@eacb.coop;
Head of Communications: Elisa BEVILACQUA (Tel.: +32 2 286 98 42), e.bevilacqua@eacb.coop