Banking Sector Mergers & Acquisitions and the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The paper presents the influence of mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The author discusses existing studies of banking sector consolidation and its influence on the development of SMEs. The article considers the influence of the relocation of bank headquarters after a merger or acquisition on lending to SMEs. It also examines the effects of consolidation on the bank’s credit portfolio and the cost of credit for SMEs. The work sums up analyses of how changes in banks’ organizational structures affect lending to SMEs. In his research, the author uses studies of consolidation processes in the American banking sector. Various American economists have reached conflicting conclusions with regard to the relationship between banking sector consolidation and lending to SMEs. These contradictions result from different research methods adopted by individual economists