Risk Management in Lending based on Assets of Small and Medium Enterprises

Abstract

Bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises is an established and integral element of Russia's market economy. Over the past three years there has been a positive trend in the development of bank corporate lending, including the introduction into national practice of a new form of asset-based lending (ABL). Scientific works of Russian and foreign economists and lawyers were used as materials for the study. The study was based on the statistical database of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the statistics of the national project «Small and Medium Entrepreneurship and Support of Individual Entrepreneurial Initiative». We used general methods of scientific knowledge: methods of empirical (comparison, observation) and theoretical (analysis, synthesis) research to study the main indicators of the lending (financing) market for small and medium enterprises (the dynamics of the volume of loans, the dynamics of the number of loans, the dynamics of the number of SMEs receiving credit, the dynamics of debt on loans granted to SMEs, including overdue). The applied research methods allowed us to analyze the SME lending market and identify the main factors affecting the SME lending market in Russia - high interest rates, as well as the growth of overdue loans. Share of overdue loans has averaged 10-15% in different reporting months over the past two years (the analyzed period from April 2019 to April 2021). This study examines current trends in lending to SMEs in Russia, especially the emergence of ABL, which have been underrepresented in recent literature. Recommendations are developed to increase the share of asset-based lending, as well as to increase its volume. The materials of the study can be useful to scholars dealing with this issue, government regulators, as well as commercial banks (including banks with state participation) and factoring finance companies.