Philippe de Fontaine Vive, the Vice-chairman of the EIB (European Investment Bank), wanted to put the accent on the relationship between banks and SMEs, and draw attention to the EIB’s role in this relationship. The EIB forms partnerships with banks to help SMEs, which has so far allowed it to lend over EUR 15 billion to European SMEs since end 2008, with EUR 1.35 billion going to French SMEs.

Debates

The first debate on the funding needs of SMEs brought to the fore the very different opinions of SMEs and banks on this matter.

Jean-François Roubeaud, President of the CGPME (General Federation of SMEs), asked the banks to take more risks in their efforts to help SMEs, even if he acknowledged the initiatives taken by banks and the problems that they are faced with. Diaa Elyaacoubi, the founding President of the Club Esprits d’Entreprise and the head of an SME, was more critical and spoke of incomprehension between SMEs and banks, especially when it came to the perception of risk.

In reply, Ariane Obolensky, the CEO of the FBF, spoke of the banks’ duty to granting “responsible loans”, meaning loans that clients can repay, and she underlined the fact that loan outstandings at French banks have never been so high, and are still increasing. Baudoin Prot, the new Chairman of the FBF (and head of BNP Paribas), and François Drouin, the Chairman of Oséo, backed the idea of “responsible loans” and reiterated the fact that banks continue to support SMEs.

Communication

The Q&A sessions with the heads of SMEs at the meeting brought to light a common problem: the great difficulty for SMEs to find out about and understand all the various forms of support at their disposal. This point was made several times, even if the business leaders present all seemed relatively aware of Oséo’s efforts to facilitate access to credit.

The banks have an important role to play in transmitting information. Société Générale takes this subject very seriously and the Group’s business advisors inform their clients of the services offered by the EIB and Oséo that correspond to their situation. The special Société Générale Internet site for businesses also presents these partnerships (cf. link https://www.entreprises.societegenerale.fr/EIEMain ).

Société Générale

Patrick Jansen, the head of the businesses and associations market for the Société Générale French retail banking network was at the conference and the working session that preceded it. He feels that it is important to remember that Société Générale and the EIB have been partners for a long time. For example, at the end of 2008 the EIB granted Société Générale a EUR 300m credit facility at a favourable rate in order to support the funding of SMEs. Société Générale passed on this benefit to its client SMEs and, to date, almost 1,500 investments have been made from this service and the credit facility has been almost entirely used up. Société Générale has already taken steps towards obtaining a further facility from the EIB.

It is inevitable in the current climate that banks and the heads of SMEs do not see eye to eye on the subject of how loans are granted, but the debate organised by the FBF at least had the merit of demonstrating that solutions are available, that financial players are committed to supporting SMEs and that dialogues can be constructive, even when opinions diverge.