Experts Warn Spain To Get On Board With Alt Lending

If Spain wants to see its economy — and its small and medium-sized enterprise community — grow and succeed, the nation must strengthen its alternative lending sector. That’s the conclusion from experts at ActitudSage, according to reports published late last week.

New research found that the nation is lagging behind others in alternative small business financing. Banks in the U.S., for example, make up 35 percent of SME funding; whereas in Spain, banks account for 80 percent. The statistics have led experts to conclude that Spain must encourage alternative sources of funding for its SMEs to remain competitive in the global economy.

But Rosario Casero, deputy director of strategy and evaluation at the Institute of Official Credit, said that Spain must use alternative financing platforms to supplement traditional bank lending to SMEs, not replace it entirely.

Reporters highlighted the recent efforts of Spain Startup, which has been working to boost lending methods like crowdfunding and angel investments to strengthen the SME community.

Experts are also calling on Spain to strengthen the international standing of its businesses, but they noted the challenge of legal barriers in place by the European Union as it struggles to establish a single, cross-border economy.

Alternative lending across the EU as a whole is one of the strongest markets on the planet. But expert analysis of the market frequently highlights the U.K. above all other EU member states in pinpointing the market’s success.

But EU officials are in the midst of working towards new regulations to spread the success of the U.K.’s alt-finance market throughout the rest of Europe. Earlier this year officials at the European Commission published a green paper outlining proposals to promote and streamline cross-border crowdfunding, a move that would aim to lower barriers for SMEs to receive funding from backers outside their own national borders.