How do lenders view small and medium-sized businesses?
The second session of the Treasury Committee’s inquiry into access to financing for small and medium-sized businesses will take place at 2:15pm on Wednesday 6 December.
In the first session of the inquiry, MPs questioned experts and industry bodies on the difficulties a small business may face when applying for capital from a traditional lender, and the accessibility of financing.
Meeting details
Likely areas of questioning
In this session, members of the Committee are likely to ask lenders for their views on small and medium-sized businesses, including their relative riskiness when being considered for lending, and whether expectations placed on them are fair.
The cross-party group of MPs are also likely to look at the quality of lender services to SMEs and whether services vary between banks and alternative financing options. Members could also probe whether lenders unfairly de-bank and close the accounts of SME customers based on the sectors in which they operate.
Further questions may look at whether SME businesses are treated differently based on their maturity and scalability, their access to physical services like cash and local branches, and the proposed removal of the SME supporting factor within Basel 3.1.