SMEs finance and bankruptcies: the role of credit guarantee schemes in the UK

With reference to consideration on the future of credit guarantees in the world, it may be interesting to analyze the UK framework of guarantee schemes in favour of SMEs, where there are no private guarantee providers and where there is a substantial public monopoly. In particular, in this paper it emerges that among the countries examined by the OECD, the country where the credit guarantees are least widespread is the United Kingdom. However, the trend in bankruptcies recorded in recent years by British firms is better than the median of the other countries considered. Results from the regression analysis show that among years of operation where EFG has been introduced, possibly this kind of government loan guarantees scheme for SMEs played a minor role, compared to macroeconomic indicators as GDP, in dealing with SMEs bankruptcies.