Small and medium-sized enterprises are a centrepiece of Europe's economy. Due to their limited size and their generally lower creditworthiness, their access to financial market instruments is more limited than for large enterprises, which benefit from more elaborate Treasury operations,...

The great financial crisis of 2007-08 and the recession have generated active debate on the role of financial systems on the real economy. In particular, central banks have shown increased interest in how financial systems can evolve to maximise their contribution to the real economy. Many...