Europe and Central Asia

This analysis provides an overview of the main markets relevant to the EIF. It starts by discussing the general market environment, then looks at the main aspects of equity finance and the guarantee and SME securitisation markets and, finally, it highlights important aspects of microfinance in Europe. A chapter on Fintech also complements the analysis.

This EIF Working Paper elaborates on the most recent update of the EIF SME Access to Finance (ESAF) Index, a composite indicator used to monitor SME external financing markets in the 28 EU countries. The current update, using latest available data, constitutes the fifth iteration of this exercise. The paper is used to provide some background information underlying the aggregate ESAF results, by analysing its four subindices and their subindicators and focussing on a select number of individual results. 

In this report Intrum gathered data from 9,607 companies across Europe to gain insight into the payment behavior and financial health of European businesses.

Through this comprehensive survey among European companies, Intrum generates awareness and debate among politicians and the media, for example, how late or non-payments impact the economies of the EU. The survey is documented and communicated to selected groups. In 2018, we will distribute more than 8,000 reports containing data based on the survey.

Confidence among the UK’s smallest companies has rebounded to 2015 levels, according to the latest SME Confidence Tracker from independent financial services provider, Bibby Financial Services (BFS).

The number of SMEs expecting sales to increase between April and June jumped by 13 percent, with half expecting to see an increase, when compared with expectations for the first three months of the year. The overall confidence index rose by six basis points from 58 in Q4 2017 to 64 in Q1 2018. It is the highest reading since Q2 2015.

Enrique Velasquez, the new ACCIS Secretary General, shared their manifesto on big data and fintech. His highlights are below:

"These are our industry's key requests to policy-makers:

This paper explores the theoretical background and the emergent evidence related to the role of access to finance for business start-ups and self-employment in Europe, with a specific focus on the role of microfinance institutions. So far, microfinance has been supporting start-ups at certain maturity level on a limited scale, with only a handful of institutions fully dedicated to new ventures. The paper reviews the role of finance from the economic theory perspective drawing on the key lines of research related to entrepreneurship and financing constraints.

It takes more than one organization to advance development. That’s why Multilateral Development Banks are joining forces to support and strengthen private sector investments in developing countries across the globe.

SMEs with international ambitions are turning a corner after the most challenging years of the economic crisis. The Enterprise Europe Network's survey data shows a confident SME community across Europe with a thirst to innovate and a positive outlook for jobs and growth.

Find out about the latest projections for turnover, market share and job creation among Europe's small businesses. Learn country by country how the Network is helping companies innovate and grow internationally across the EU. Discover how the Network maintains a position of trust among its SME clients.

Raisin, Europe’s top financial marketplace that enables savers to access the best deposit rates across Europe, has closed another round of financing. Raisin’s most recent fundraise closed in mid- December is a strategic investment from digital payments platform PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), and the investment is intended to accelerate the growth of Raisin in its core European geographies. The company previously has raised a total of EUR 60 million, with investments from Thrive Capital, Ribbit Capital and Index Ventures.