” markets for smes in italy and germany could serve as examples to gain insights into best practices for the establishment of sme markets. the development of bond and equity markets for smes and mid - sized companies would also encourage more cross - border investment within the eu and from foreign investors. fourth, measures to develop alternative financial intermediaries for young companies and smes. in this context, efforts should be intensified toward the creation of a risk capital market for non - listed companies such as a market for venture capital funds and markets for infrastructure financing. mifid ii is an important step towards improving the functioning of eu trading venues and setting the stage for the development of sme capital markets. however, further steps are necessary, in particular to correct differences throughout the eu in the tax treatment of these products both at the issuer and investor level. fifth, measures to improve investors ’ access to business, credit and financial information on smes. it is well - known that most smes are not rated by rating agencies. the lack of adequate and readily available information on the credit quality of smes is a structural problem in the eu as a whole and in the central, eastern and southern european region, in particular. this is one of the major reasons that smes in the eu have historically faced significant difficulties to access funding from capital markets. there is, thus, the need of a harmonised eu approach to credit scoring comparability of sme data. improving the availability of financial information is paramount in allowing investors to gauge the riskiness of securitized products. in this respect, it is important to develop national credit registers for smes, allowing for higher transparency, standardization and comparability of underlying assets. a final word of caution is in order. most of the measures i discussed above will likely have only medium - to long - term effects in reviving credit markets in the eu because most of these measures constitute fundamental changes in the structure of the financial system. such structures naturally change only gradually over time. in the short term, monetary policy will continue to play the major role in determining liquidity provision to banks and the cost of funding for the private sector. non - standard monetary policy measures and progress towards a banking union are, thus, of prime importance, in order to reduce market fragmentation and allow the normal transmission of monetary policy to the most vulnerable areas of the monetary union. bis central bankers ’ speeches

bond purchase programmes will provide an initial boost, especially for the european abs market which has lain largely dormant since 2008. however, in my view, if we are to move farther towards the development of a market for corporate loans, a concerted effort is needed in several directions. a list of key priorities in order to revive credit markets should include the following : first, further measures to revive the market for securitizations, in particular for sme bank loans. securitization is an important instrument to promote bank credit. allowing banks to securitize and redistribute sme loans to a broader investor base can provide banks with capital relief and allow them to lend to the real economy. this is not an easy task given the stigma attached to securitization following the global financial crisis, when the “ originate to distribute ” model led to excessive leverage and financial fragility. of course, lessons have been learned since then, and the regulatory framework has been adapted in a way that makes a repeat of past mistakes unlikely. for this securitization to work in a way that does not endanger the resilience of the financial system, we must ensure that only high quality assets that are simple and transparent are used in securitizations. in this respect, it is important to develop a set of rules that allow the definition of a pool of “ high quality securitizations ” at the eu level. bis central bankers ’ speeches second, changes to the prudential treatment of securitizations. it is essential, in my view, to adjust the regulatory framework for securitisations in a way that provides banks with incentives to engage in the market. capital relief for banks ’ holdings of asset backed securities which are simple, transparent and robust could provide an answer. the second aspect of regulation relates to potential investors, such as insurers, pension funds etc. the regulatory framework should allow for a fair treatment of high quality abs relative to abs products with higher risk profiles, in order to provide long - term institutional investors incentives to trade in the market. third, policies to promote better access of smes to capital markets. as is well known, corporate bond markets work well for large corporations while they are not attractive to smes, which remain largely dependent on bank loans for financing. efforts should be undertaken to reverse this trend and promote the access of smes to capital markets. the development of “ minibond