Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2020

15. France

Key facts on SME financing

France has approximately 4 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs). They account for 99.9% of all enterprises.

Outstanding SME loans increased by more than 4.3% between 2017 and 2018, reaching EUR 254 135 million in 2018. After having decreased between 2014 and 2017, the spread between interest rates charged to SMEs and to large firms increased in 2018, reaching 0.45 percentage points. Furthermore, SMEs’ access to bank lending remains high: 88% of SMEs' requests for cash credits were fully or almost fully granted as of Q4 2018.

Private equity investments in French firms have continued to increase in 2018 to EUR 14.7 billion, up 2.8% compared to 2017. The average yearly growth rate over 2013-2018 is around 16.4%.

Factoring volumes have continuously increased in France since 2009.

Payment delays reached 13.3 days in 2015, the highest since the crisis, and have been steadily decreasing since 2015 to just under 11 days in 2018.

For the third year since recovery, the number of SME bankruptcies has remained under 60 000, staying stable over 2017-2018 at around 54 000.

In terms of government policies responding to the financing constraints faced by SMEs, in 2018, credit mediation continued to assist French enterprises via an online platform. In line with the trend from 2017, the number of requests has continued to decrease in comparison with previous years, partly due to the better dynamism of economic growth, as well as to the overall global easing of access to bank financing. The share of mediation applications that are accepted stabilised at around 66% in 2018.

The Government is also involved in reducing business-to-business payment delays. The transparency, anti-corruption and economic modernisation law enacted in December 2016 strengthened the legislative framework to fight against business-to-business payment delays. The maximum fine for firms that do not respect legal payment delays was raised to two million. Moreover, a “name and shame" procedure was introduced. Henceforth, there is a systematic advertising of decisions on fines on the website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. As a result, three firms were required to pay record fines of more than EUR 500 000 in 2018. It remains the case that the largest firms are responsible for the largest payment delays. While the longest delays (superior to 30 days) have decreased in number since 2017, the share of firms with timely payments has decreased from 44% to 41.8%.

Better access to financing for very small firms has also been the focus of public policy. Since 2016, Bpifrance has distributed online development loans to address the investment financing needs of firms from 3 to 50 employees with tangible and intangible investment projects. This measure, implemented in some regions, is being expanded and diversified in certain regions. In addition, the Banque de France set up a network of correspondents in every region since 2016 to break the isolation of entrepreneurs and to solve financing issues.

Table 15.1. Scoreboard for France

Indicator	Unit	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Debt
Outstanding business loans, SMEs	EUR Billion	180.5	189.1	189.6	199.7	210.3	214.0	216.5	219.2	224.2	232.8	243.7	254.1
Outstanding business loans, total	EUR Billion	868.5	927.1	938.4	974.0	1012.2	1009.6	1025.9	1036.0	1078.2	1130.0	1193.7	1257.2
Share of SME outstanding loans	% of total outstanding business loans	20.78	20.40	20.21	20.50	20.77	21.20	21.11	21.16	20.80	20.60	20.41	20.21
New business lending, total	EUR Billion	86.4	67.6	-9.5	9.1	34.6	7.8	1.6	18.9	35.0	43.8	56.1	58.7
Outstanding short-term loans, SMEs	EUR Billion	43.1	42.7	37.5	38.1	40.3	41.1	42.8	43.3	43.5	43.9	44.7	44.9
Outstanding long-term loans, SMEs	EUR Billion	115.2	123.3	127.8	134.4	142.6	146.5	146.3	148.6	151.9	158.6	166.7	175.8
Share of short-term SME lending	% of total SME lending	27.20	25.70	22.70	22.09	22.05	21.91	22.65	22.55	22.27	21.66	21.15	20.33
Government loan guarantees, SMEs	EUR Billion	5.9	6.9	11.3	11.9	9.8	8.5	8.9	7.8	8.0	8.4	8.9	8.7
Government guaranteed loans, SMEs	EUR Billion	2.7	3.2	5.8	5.3	4.2	4.2	4.4	4.8	5.0	5.2	5.1	3.7
Non-performing loans, total	% of all business loans	3.70	3.66	4.71	4.56	3.96	4.06	4.25	4.14	4.05	3.90	3.62	3.28
Interest rate, SMEs	%	5.10	5.42	2.86	2.48	3.11	2.43	2.16	2.08	1.78	1.50	1.40	1.48
Interest rate, large firms	%	4.52	4.76	1.96	1.57	2.23	1.72	1.46	1.30	1.19	1.14	1.10	1.03
Interest rate spread	% points	0.58	0.66	0.90	0.91	0.89	0.71	0.70	0.78	0.59	0.35	0.30	0.45
Collateral, SMEs	% of SMEs needing collateral to obtain bank lending	..	..	..	..	..	9.42	8.52	7.28	6.33	5.17	4.34	4.22
Percentage of SME loan applications	SME loan applications/ total number of SMEs	..	..	..	..	..	38.42	35.64	35.73	37.88	37.90	37.17	36.72
Rejection rate	1-(SME loans authorised/ requested)	..	..	..	..	..	11.12	8.00	6.61	7.55	6.21	5.14	4.36
Utilisation rate	SME loans used/ authorised	87.69	87.77	87.17	86.37	87.03	87.64	87.32	87.49	87.17	86.98	86.76	86.85
Non-bank finance
Venture and growth capital	EUR Billion	2.0	2.4	2.4	2.9	3.5	2.4	2.5	3.2	4.6	4.7	4.4	5.1
Venture and growth capital (growth rate)	%, Year-on-year growth rate	24.73	21.34	-1.08	22.22	21.34	-32.46	3.35	30.98	42.55	2.54	-7.38	15.87
Leasing and hire purchases	EUR Billion	9.3	9.5	9.0	8.5	8.1	6.6	6.1	5.7	7.1	7.7	7.8	8.1
Factoring and invoice discounting	EUR Billion	21.2	22.5	18.8	20.7	22.5	22.6	24.8	25.6	28.0	31.0	36.1	37.6
Other indicators
Payment delays, B2B	Number of days	12.18	11.90	11.80	11.98	12.18	11.83	12.08	12.21	13.28	11.90	11.12	10.79
Bankruptcies, SMEs	Number (thousands)	51.3	55.5	63.2	60.3	59.4	61.1	62.5	62.4	63.0	58.0	54.4	54.0
Bankruptcies, SMEs (growth rate)	%, Year-on-year growth rate	..	8.23	13.75	-4.53	-1.39	2.71	2.37	-0.22	0.99	-7.90	-6.14	-0.81

Source: See Table 15.7.

SMEs in the national economy

France has approximately 4 million small and medium enterprises (SME). They account for 99.9% of all enterprises. Among SMEs, micro-firms dominated the business landscape, comprising 97.2% of all firms and 97.4% of SMEs in 2016. French SMEs employed 48.2% of the workforce and accounted for 42.8% of value added in 20161.

Table 15.2. Distribution of firms in France, 2016

By firm size

Firm size (employees)	Number of firms	%
All firms	3 995 731	100
SMEs (1-249)	3 989 837	99.9
Micro (1-9)	3 855 237	96.5
Small (10-249)	134 600	3.4
Large (250+)	5 629	0.1

Note: Data do not include financial enterprises with the exception of holding companies. Non-employer enterprises are not included.

Source: INSEE, Les entreprises en France, Edition 2018.

SME lending

The Central Credit Register of the National Bank of France collects monthly data on loans over EUR 25 000 granted to enterprises (legal units). The data include both, loans drawn (utilised) and undrawn (not utilised), for enterprises resident in France. Data on both loans to all firms as well as on loans to SMEs (both independent and belonging to a group, but excluding individual entrepreneurs), exist.

The stock of outstanding business loans to SMEs rose steadily between 2007 and 2018 by about 3.2% every year on average, with stronger increases towards the end of the period. The growth rate was superior to 3% for the third year in a row in 2018. The share of SME loans in the total outstanding loan stock (20.2% in 2018) has remained roughly constant over 2012-2018 period at around 20%, with a slight but stable decrease since 2014. The share of short-term loans in total SME loans dropped modestly in 2018, from 21.2% to 20.3%.

Credit conditions

France has detailed data on drawn loans and undrawn loans. An increase in the proportion of all drawn loans to all loans (both, i.e. the sum of drawn and undrawn) indicates a higher degree of utilisation and hence tighter lending conditions, as well as a worsening of credit availability as has been observed in 2008-09, and again at the end of 2011, though less severely. Since 2012, however, the credit conditions measured by these trends show a relative stabilisation. The utilisation rate stayed constant in 2018 at 86.8%.

As in most European countries, interest rates for both SMEs and large firms dropped steeply in 2009, as a response to the monetary easing of the European Central Bank (ECB). After a slight uptick in the interest rates in 2011, this decrease continued steadily until 2017. Although interest rates for firms of all sizes declined over this period, this evolution was much more pronounced for large firms than for micro-enterprises (employing ten employees or less) and the spread between interest rates charged to SMEs and to large firms remained important until 2014. Since 2014, the interest rate spread has decreased from 0.8% in 2014 to 0.4% in 2018. The interest rate spread increased slightly in 2018 from 0.3% to 0.4%, reflecting a slight increase in the interest rate for SMEs. Interest rates for large firms (1.0% in 2018) have continued to decrease, consistent with the wider trend since 2011.

Figure 15.1. Interest rates on credit to firms in France

Source: Banque de France.

Statlink

The situation of SMEs and very small enterprises (VSEs) with respect to access to bank finance continues to improve in France, as it was the case in previous years: SMEs' access to bank lending has been satisfactory, illustrated by a continuous progression of credit loans and an overall easing of conditions despite the slight increase in interest rates for SMEs in 2018. The rejection rate, now at 4.36%, has continued to decline, in line with the trend since 2012. As of Q4 2018, around 88% of SMEs' requests of cash credits were fully or almost fully granted, which is the highest level ever reached by this indicator. Meanwhile, more than 95% of SMEs requests of investment loans were fully or almost fully served, a figure which has remained stable since the beginning of 20172.

Figure 15.2. Outcome of applications for bank loans by SMEs in France

Source: Banque de France.

Statlink

Alternative sources of SME financing

Invested amounts in private equity in French firms continued to increase in 2018, reaching EUR 14.7 billion, + 2.8% compared to 2017, and are now well above average levels before the financial crisis (EUR 10 billion in average between 2005 and 2008). The average yearly growth rate over 2012-2018 is around 16%, demonstrating the strong expansion of this sector. The number of firms which are financed via venture capital funds increased for the third year in a row, from 2 142 in 2017 to more than 2 200 in 2018. More than half (53%) of the amounts invested were in firms that opened their capital for the first time in 2018. Among these, 78% are SMEs or start-ups.

Capital financing by financial markets still remains marginal for SMEs. 13 IPOs on Euronext and Euronext Growth took place in 2017 (18 in 2016). However, the average number of IPOs per year between 2010 and 2017 is about 20. The amounts raised in 2017 reached EUR 3.18 billion on Euronext and Euronext Growth (Observatoire du financement des entreprises par le marché, Rapport annuel 2017).

Despite an increase in the number of business angels since 2017 (more than 12 000 in 2018, up from around 11 000 in 2017), the number of financing operations has decreased by 11% (455, compared to 509 in 2017). In 2018, they invested EUR 37 million (compared with EUR 48 million in 2017), which is the lowest level since 2014 and is not enough to meet the funding needs of SMEs3.

Table 15.3. Private equity investments in France

By stage of investment, in EUR million

Stage	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Venture capital	677	758	587	605	597	443	642	626	758	874	1 224	1 619
Expansion capital	1 310	1 653	1 798	2 310	2 940	1 946	1 827	2 608	3 852	3 853	3 154	3 454
Sub-total	1 987	2 411	2 385	2 915	3 537	2 389	2 469	3 234	4 610	4 727	4 378	5073
LBO	10 340	7 399	1 605	3 512	6 015	3 568	3 910	5 452	6 116	7 621	9 882	9 612
Turnaround capital	84	99	84	90	118	115	103	41	22	47	19	26
Total investment	12 554	10 009	4 100	6 598	9 738	6 072	6 482	8 727	10 749	12 395	14 278	14 711

Source: France Invest/Grant Thornton, March 2019.

Table 15.4. Number of firms supported by private equity in France

Stage	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Venture capital	416	428	401	458	371	365	469	438	499	634	847	877
Expansion capital	557	707	779	916	960	871	802	923	866	922	932	948
Sub-total	973	1 135	1 180	1 374	1 331	1 236	1 271	1 361	1 365	1 556	1 779	1 825
LBO	462	388	231	264	292	292	272	272	261	324	342	384
Turnaround capital	38	28	31	25	17	20	17	15	19	13	21	9
Total investment	1 558	1 595	1 469	1 685	1 694	1 548	1 560	1 648	1 645	1 893	2 142	2 218

Source: France Invest/Grant Thornton, March 2019.

Crowdfunding is a method of financing which is increasingly used in France, and which experienced strong expansion in 2018. Funds raised by crowdfunding platforms more than doubled in the 2015-2018 period, from EUR 167 million to EUR 402 million, with a 20% increase in 2018. This includes EUR 294 million for SMEs and EUR 30 million for start-ups. In 2018, funds raised allowed to finance 33 381 projects, +38% compared to 20174. Crowdfunding platforms benefit from a specific regulatory framework since 2014 which enables them to operate without a minimum amount of equity. However, their activity is regulated in order to guarantee transparency and investors protection. Other financial operators can operate through internet platforms without these specific legal status, but they must conform to the classic financial regulatory framework.

Table 15.5. Projects financed and funds raised by crowdfunding in France in EUR million

Year	2015	2016	2017	2018
Number of projects	17 775	21 375	24 126	33 381
Funds raised	167	234	336	402

Note: Data includes both crowdfunding and crowdlending.

Source: KPMG, Baromètre du crowdfunding en France 2018, 2019.

Factoring volumes increased by 10.2% in 2018 to EUR 320.4 billion. The number of ongoing operations (+ 12.8%) also increased in 2018 compared to 2017. This trend continues to reflect the collective effort made by factoring companies to target SMEs, with simpler offers without time constraints and the possibility to cover only a part of their trade receivables.

Table 15.6. Evolution of factoring activities in France

Stage	Unit	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Production	EUR million	133.0	128.3	153.2	173.3	186.5	200.5	226.5	248.2	268.2	290.8	320.4
International transactions	%	14.2	14.5	17.0	18.2	18.1	19.3	25.0	27.0	25.7	26.2	30.2
Ongoing operations	EUR million	24.8	21.1	24.2	26.9	27.6	30.4	33	37.3	41.1	48.3	54.6
Number of clients	Thousand	29.0	32.2	35.3	36.9	37.9	38.9	40.5	39.9	41.2	43.0	41.1

Source: ASF 2018

Other indicators

Payment delays, defined as any payment made beyond the contractually agreed term, and measured in terms of late payment days including payments on time (delay = 0), were globally stable between 2008 and 2014 (12 days on average). However, there is a certain heterogeneity in payment delays, due to the size of firms or the sector. The larger the firms, the more important are the payment delays on average. In 2015, the payment delays reached 13.3 days, the highest since the crisis, and then decreased steadily again between 2016 and 2018, reaching 10.8%.

SME bankruptcies peaked during the Great Recession and decreased again in 2010 and 2011. 2012 and 2013 saw an uptick in the bankruptcy rate for SMEs, a trend that has since continued. Since 2015, SME bankruptcies have decreased by 14%. Indeed, in 2015, 62 984 firms went bankrupt compared to 54 004 in 2018.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) reached 4.7% of all business loans during the crisis in 2009. Since then, NPLs have steadily decreased to 3.3% in 2018.

Government policy response

Two main structures: credit mediation and Bpifrance

In order to respond to the financing constraints faced by SMEs, the Government put in place two main structures: credit mediation and Bpifrance.

Credit mediation continues to play a strong role in assisting SMEs with their liquidity problems

Backed by the Banque de France, credit mediation, set up in November 2008, remains a central part of the financing landscape for French SMEs.

Companies encountering difficulties with their bank or their credit insurer can file a request online to start the mediation process. The mediation services in Paris, assisted by departmental mediators from the Banque de France, assess the eligibility of the requests and contribute to finding a solution between the requesting firms and the financial institutions at local level, or if necessary, at a national level.

In 2018, 1 322 mediations were set up, assisting 757 enterprises with a total of 10 565 employees, and unblocking a total of EUR 208 million of credit. However, the number of requests has decreased in comparison with the average number in previous years. This is partly due to the economic outlook, as well as to the overall global easing of access to bank financing.

Since the creation of the scheme in 2008, 55 000 enterprises have had recourse to mediation and 61.5% have been successfully mediated. Overall, the credit mediation scheme has supported 23 000 firms of all sizes, unblocked EUR 6.7 billion in credit, and preserved 414 000 jobs (Médiation du Crédit, 2019).

The Mediation du Credit has signed an agreement with Finance Participative France, the association of crowdfunding platforms in 2015. Firms in mediation will be informed of the possibility to use crowdfunding to address their financing needs, and crowdfunding platforms will inform firms which are not selected on their website that they can turn to the Médiation du Crédit.

The national credit mediator is President de l’Observatoire du financement des entreprises, a light structure set up in 2011 to identify and document the financial situation of small and mid cap firms in France. The Observatoire gathers financial institutions, business representatives, administrations and statisticians to discuss evolutions in SME access to finance, or to conduct studies on specific issues in relation to this subject.

Bpifrance support SMEs in their financing and investment needs

Public support to SMEs is mainly managed through Bpifrance, the public development bank created at the start of 2013 through the fusion of several public operators (OSEO, CDC Entreprises, Fonds stratégique d’investissement). Bpifrance is able to offer businesses a local financing service supported by an extended portfolio of financial instruments and consultation options that can be called upon at any moment of the business development process. It provides guarantees, co-financing, direct loans, and manages, on behalf of public authorities, government support for innovation and services. It also guarantees venture capital funds. On the equity side, Bpifrance manages several funds of funds and direct funds, mostly targeting SMEs' needs. Its scope of action has been recently extended to encompass export credit guarantees. Bpifrance is now the state export guarantee agency.

In 2018, thanks to Bpifrance's intermediation, SMEs had access to around EUR 8.7 billion in guaranteed loans, EUR 7.5 billion of investment credits, EUR 10.3 million in short term credit and EUR 1.2 billion in support for innovation. On the equity side, Bpifrance invested EUR 536 million directly in Mid & Large Cap through its growth capital activity, EUR 196 million directly in small cap through its growth capital activity, EUR 328 million in innovative SMEs through its venture capital branch, and subscribed more than EUR 962 million indirectly in firms through its funds of funds activities.

Specific focus of recent public policies responding to the financing constraints faced by SMEs

Public policy continues to promote better access to financing for small firms and proper uptake of existing private and public financing measures to boost investment. There is also a strong focus on actions to improve the knowledge and preparation of SMEs in their access to finance.

As of last year, setting up the proper conditions to boost investment has been the focus of public action on financing. In order to boost investment; to encourage firms, whether large or small, to undertake new and riskier projects; to address the needs of start-ups, fast-growing companies, and more traditional SMEs challenged by digital and business model changes, financial and economic actors have to overhaul classical funding options. Equity and credit (with lower collateral requirements) have to be stepped up to offer ways of funding intangible investments, export projects, as well as training or innovative upgrading of firms' processes.

Two examples of measures to illustrate this orientation of public action in the recent period are detailed here.

Reduction of payment delays

The Government is involved in reducing business-to-business payment delays. The transparency, anti-corruption and economic modernisation law enacted in December 2016 strengthens the legislative framework to fight against business-to-business payment delays. The maximum fine for firms that do not respect legal payment delays (60 days) has been raised to two million. Moreover, a procedure known as “name and shame" has been introduced. Henceforth, there is a systematic advertising of fines decisions on the website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. As a result, in 2018, 377 fine procedures were launched, representing nearly EUR 29.1 million (fines notified and not notified) and 98 have been published on the website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Better access to financing for very small firms

Though the situation of very small firms in their access to bank credit continues to improve, as mentioned above, they still encounter specific difficulties due to their size and, their occasional lack of financial education.

The case of very small firms has been the focus a new measure put in place by Bpifrance to address the investment financing needs of these firms. Since 2016, Bpifrance offers online development loans from EUR 10 000 to EUR 50 000 to fund global investment projects with tangible and intangible investments. Banks often do not spontaneously cover such projects because of the difficulty to find collateral. These loans serve firms with 3-50 employees. This measure, implemented in some regions and with the support of these regions, was expanded in 2018.

To support very small enterprises, the Banque de France has nominated a correspondent for VSEs in every department since 2016 in order to provide advice and discuss their financial situation if necessary, and to avoid specific difficulties before these firms encounter them. Around 100 advisors have been designated to this end and focus on firms with less than 10 employees and turnover of less than EUR 2 million. The rationale behind such an initiative, launched in September 2016, is to break the isolation of entrepreneurs and to solve financial problems before they become too problematic for small firms.

The action plan for business growth and transformation law (loi PACTE)

This law, PACTE, enacted on May 22th 2019, aims to empower small and medium enterprises to grow and create jobs. It also aims to enhance SME finance through different measures, including the following:

• The Euro-growth fund (life insurance fund) was modernised in order to reinforce the contribution of life insurance to financing the economy. The modernisation of the Euro-growth fund should strengthen its contribution to SMEs financing and boost the performance of contracts for policyholders.

• The share saving plan for the financing of SMEs and mid-cap companies is now open to securities issued by crowdfunding platforms. This measure should encourage the development of crowdfunding platforms that distribute financial instruments that are newly eligible.

• A legal framework for ICOs (initial coin offerings) was created with the possibility for the regulator, l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) to issue a visa to stakeholders respecting protection criteria for savers. Intermediaries such as crypto-active exchange platforms can apply for a visa issued by the AMF.

• Access to stock market for enterprises is facilitated: the prospectus5 exemption threshold is raised and the squeeze-out threshold is lowered.

Figure 15.3. Trends in SME and entrepreneurship finance in France

Source: See Table 15.7.

Statlink

Table 15.7. Definitions and sources of indicators for France’s scoreboard

Indicator	Definition	Source
Debt
Outstanding business loans, SMEs	Total drawn and undrawn credit to SMEs (both independent and belonging to a group) - end of year outstanding amounts	Banque de France - Central Credit Register http://webstat.banque-france.fr/en/browse.do?node=5384961
Outstanding business loans, total	Total drawn and undrawn credit - end of year outstanding amounts	Banque de France - Central Credit Register
Share of SME outstanding loans	Outstanding business loans, SMEs in % of outstanding business loans, total
New business lending, total	New loans to domestic non-financial corporations - Loans adjusted for sales and securitisation, all maturities, financial transactions (flows)	Banque de France - Monetary statistics http://webstat.banque-france.fr/en/quickview.do?SERIES_KEY=246.BSI1.M.FR.N.R.A26.A.4.U6.2240.Z01.E
Outstanding short-term loans, SMEs	End of year outstanding ammount of drawn credit with a maturity less than or equal to one year	Banque de France - Central Credit Register
Outstanding long-term loans, SMEs	End of year outstanding ammount of drawn credit with a maturity of more than one year	Banque de France - Central Credit Register
Share of short-term SME lending	Outstanding short-term loans, SMEs in % of outstanding business loans, SMEs
Government loan guarantees, SMEs	Amount of loans guaranteed by Bpifrance	Bpifrance Financement annual report and press release http://www.bpifrance.fr/Bpifrance/Notre-mission https://www.bpifrance.fr/content/download/62884/679173/
Government guaranteed loans, SMEs	Net amount of risk covered by Bpifrance for guarantees to all firms	Bpifrance Financement annual report and press release
Non-performing loans, total		Banque de France - Monetary statistics
Interest rate, SMEs	Narrowly defined effective rate (NDER) - SMEs	Banque de France - Directorate General Statistics http://webstat.banque-france.fr/en/browse.do?node=DATASETS_PME
Interest rate, large firms	Narrowly defined effective rate (NDER) - large Firms	Banque de France - Directorate General Statistics
Interest rate spread	Difference in percentage points between Interest rate, large firms and Interest rate, SMEs
Collateral, SMEs	% of SMEs claiming that new guarantees were required for their new credit applications - quarterly survey data, average over the year	Banque de France - Quarterly Survey on Credit availability http://webstat.banque-france.fr/en/browse.do?node=5384962
Percentage of SME loan applications	% of SMEs answering that they claimed for new credit applications (credit lines, short term or investment credit) - quarterly survey data, average over the year	Banque de France - Quarterly Survey on Credit availability
Rejection rate	% of SMEs claiming that they did not get their new credit application or even did not apply for fear of a rejection - quarterly survey data, average over the year	Banque de France - Quarterly Survey on Credit availability
Utilisation rate	Ratio : drawn credit / (drawn + undrawn credit)	Banque de France - Central Credit Register
Non-bank finance
Venture and growth capital	..	French private equity and venture association, France Invest (Association des investisseurs pour la croissance) http://www.franceinvest.eu/fr/etudes-statistiques/les-statistiques-du-capital-investissement.html
Leasing and hire purchases	End-of-year outsanding amounts	Banque de France - Deposits and loans by region http://webstat.banque-france.fr/en/browseSelection.do?node=DATASETS_CEFIT&BS_ITEM=A20FRCL&DETAIL_AREA=N01
Factoring and invoice discounting	Factoring only: end of year outstanding debt claims, excluding floor plan et forfaiting ; Domestic factoring: factoring Operations in which the factor, the customer and the purchaser are in France.	Association Française des Sociétés Financières (ASF) http://www.asf-france.com/2017/04/13/statistiques/
Other indicators
Payment delays, B2B	Average number of late payment days, including the payments on time (delay = 0). The payment delay is defined as any payment made beyond the contractually agreed term.	Quarterly report on companies and public bodies payment behaviours in France and Europe, DATA-Altares, dun&bradstreet https://www.altares.com/fr/publications/etudes-comportements-paiement-france-europe/
Bankruptcies, SMEs	Number of judicial liquidation and judicial reorganisation procedures	Banque de France - Firms demography http://webstat.banque-france.fr/en/browse.do?node=5385030#

References

Association française des sociétés financières (ASF) (2018) L'activité des sociétés d'affacturage en 2017

http://www.asf-france.com/wp-content/uploads/Statistiques/Affacturage/201712-Activite-affacturage.pdf

Banque de France (2018) Enquête trimestrielle sur l’accès des entreprises au crédit 2018 T2

https://www.banque-france.fr/statistiques/credit/credit/acces-des-entreprises-au-credit

Bpifrance (2019) Rapport annuel 2018 Bpifrance investissement

Bpifrance (2019) Rapport annuel 2018 Bpifrance financement

https://www.bpifrance.fr/Espace-Investisseurs

France Angels (2018) L’investissement des Business Angels en 2017

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/48981545f014cb67c77b7ba1e/files/c4e9f9b0-dc2e-4c52-ae69-c9b0c4ef12a7/Présentation_Statistiques_2017_France_Angels_Polices_Intégrées.01.pdf

France Invest/Grant Thornton (2019) “Activité des acteurs français du capital-investissement en 2018”, https://www.grantthornton.fr/globalassets/1.-member-firms/france/pdf/insight/2019/franceinvest_etudes_2019_activite_2018_vdef.pdfInsee (2018) Les entreprises en France

https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/3639594

KPMG (2019) Baromètre du crowdfunding en France 2018

http://financeparticipative.org/barometres-crowdfunding/barometre-du-crowdfunding-2017/

Médiation du crédit (2019) Rapport d’activité 2018

https://mediateur-credit.banque-france.fr/sites/default/files/medias/documents/mediation_du_credit_2008-2018.pdf

Observatoire des délais de paiement (2019) Rapport annuel de l’Observatoire des délais de paiement

https://publications.banque-france.fr/sites/default/files/medias/documents/odp2019_book_web.pdf

Observatoire du financement des entreprises par le marché (2018), Rapport annuel 2017.

http://observatoire-financement-entreprises.com/rapport-annuel-2017-1?context=b5adccb

Notes

← 1.  Insee, Les entreprises en France, Edition 2018.

← 2.  Banque de France, Enquête trimestrielle sur l’accès des entreprises au credit, 2019T1.

← 3.  France Angels, L’investissement des Business Angels en 2018, 2019.

← 4.  KPMG, Baromètre du crowdfunding en France 2018, 2019

← 5.  A prospectus is a general information document for investors which is standardised at European level