Press Release: From loans to equity: new report reveals shift in business finance

Europe's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are gradually switching from loan finance to other instruments, like equity, debt-equity combinations, leasing, and guaranteed loans and equity, says a European report on 'Enterprises' access to finance' published on 23 October 2001. Reasons for this include the withdrawal of some banks from the low-margin SME lending, and the development of financial markets allowing the expansion of alternative instruments.

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/financing/index.htm http://ec.europa.eu/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/financing/index.htm

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