The bank-firm relationships after Basel 2: a survey on Italian firms

This paper shows the results of a survey on firms regarding the changes that are occurring in the bank-firm relationship in view of Basel II. The survey has been conducted on an national basis together with a local one directed to small firms localized in the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Puglia and Basilicata. The results show that a non-negligible share of firms seems to have realized the possible effects of the new regulations and some of them think that it is necessary to introduce relevant organizational changes. In general firms do not perceive any relevant change in banks' behaviour, but there is some dispersion in the answers on banks' reactions in credit availability and conditions. A trend towards reduction in multiple bank relationships emerges, especially among firms participating in the national survey. The local survey aimed also at evaluating the impact of Basel II on growth perspectives of Italian SMEs. These results show that the growth trend is more marked among firms localized in Emilia-Romagna, which received heavy funding from the banking system. A wider bank support seems to be lacking, in terms of assistance and consulting to firms' growth projects. In addition to this, firms' main obstacles to growth was due to difficulties in finding suitable managers and in the governance of the firm in general.