The French Corporate Bond Market: A Leverage for SMEs?

The 2008 financial crisis and hardened regulatory requirements have resulted in a more restrictive credit offering to small and middle-size enterprises (SMEs). To finance their growth, SMEs must thus find alternative financing sources. Bonds issuance may appear as a promising solution. However, this market is only accessible to large companies, be it on the national or on the international market. The objective of this article is to stress the conditions that will enable SMEs to get access to direct fixed income market financing. The results evidence a strong development of this market since 2010. However, two conditions are required for this market to attain the scale it deserves: the low financings needed by SMEs must be mutualized and their risk adequately assessed.