06.10.2011 BUSINESS TRANSFER: consult the new BeCeFi webpage here.

21.09.2011 BeCeFi publishes the results of its 2010 annual survey on SME Financing in Belgium.
Download the report in Dutch or in French.
Read also the executive summary in Dutch or in French or the newsletter in Dutch or in French.

14.09.2011 BeCeFi publishes its first quarter 2011 report on credit granting to companies and self-employed in Belgium.
Download the Dutch version of the report
Download the French version of the report
or read the press release in Dutch or in French.

06.04.2011 BeCeFi publishes its fourth quarter 2010 report on credit granting to companies and self-employed in Belgium.
Download the Dutch version of the report
Download the French version of the report

17.03.2011 The results of the 13th BeCeFi barometer are now available (January) !
Report available in Dutch or in French
or read the newsletter in Dutch or in French. For more information: Click here

27.10.2010 The results of the 12th BeCeFi barometer are now available (September) !
Report available in Dutch or in French
or read the newsletter in Dutch or in French. For more information: Click here

14.09.2010 BeCeFi publishes its second quarter 2010 report on credit granting to companies and self-employed in Belgium.
Download the Dutch version of the report
Download the French version of the report

16.06.2010 The eleventh results (May) of the BeCeFi barometer are available !
Report available in Dutch or in French
For more information: Click here

26.05.2010 BeCeFi publishes its first quarter 2010 report on credit granting to companies and self-employed in Belgium.
Download the Dutch version of the report
Download the French version of the report

or read the press release in Dutch or in French.

22.04.2010 On Tuesday the 22 of May the BeCeFi activity report 2009 was presented, also during this presentation the BeCeFi Academic Awards were granted to the laureates of the edition 2009. Report available in Dutch or in French
For more information about the BeCeFi Academic Awards: Click here

15.04.2010 The tenth results (March) of the BeCeFi barometer are available !
Report available in Dutch or in French
For more information: Click here

15.03.2010 BeCeFi publishes its fourth quarter 2009 report on credit granting to companies and self-employed in Belgium.
Download the Dutch version of the report
Download the French version of the report

or read the press release in Dutch or in French.

25.02.2010 The ninth results (January) of the BeCeFi barometer are available !
Report available in Dutch or in French
For more information: Click here

15.12.2009 BeCeFi publishes the results of its 2009 annual survey on SME Financing in Belgium. Download the report in Dutch or in French. Read also the newsletter in Dutch or in French.

02.12.2009 The eighth results (November) of the BeCeFi barometer are available !
Report available in Dutch or in French
For more information: Click here

19.11.2009 BeCeFi publishes its third quarter 2009 report on credit granting to companies and self-employed in Belgium.
Download the Dutch version of the report
Download the French version of the report

or read the press release in Dutch or in French.

01.10.2009 The seventh results (September) of the BeCeFi barometer are available !
Report available in Dutch or in French
For more information: Click here

27.07.2009 The sixth results (July) of the BeCeFi barometer are available !
Report available in Dutch or in French
For more information: Click here

13.07.200 The BeCeFi's notional intrest simulator has been updated. The new version allows to make a calculation for a financial year that overlaps two years. Read the press report in Dutch or in French

13.07.2009 Read the last BeCeFi study on the SME's knowledge and use of the notional intrest deduction in Dutch or in French

11.06.2009 The fifth results (May) of the BeCeFi barometer are available !
Report available in Dutch or in French
For more information: Click here

05.05.2009 On Tuesday the 5th of May the BeCeFi activity report 2008 was presented, also during this presentation the BeCeFi Academic Awards were granted to the laureates of the edition 2008. Report available in Dutch or in French
For more information about the BeCeFi Academic Awards: Click here

22.12.2008 The second results of the BeCeFi barometer are available.
Financing possibilities of small enterprises: Barometer 2008/2 (December 2008) - Available in Dutch or in French

03.12.2008 BeCeFi publishes the results of its 2007 annual survey on SME Financing in Belgium. Download the report in Dutch or in French. Read also the press release in Dutch or in French, or consult the presentation of the press conference in Dutch or in French.

28.11.2008 The first results of the BeCeFi barometer are available.
Financing possibilities of small enterprises: Barometer 2008/1 (November 2008) - Available in Dutch or in French

03.11.2008 Want to know more about the credit crisis? Follow the evolution on the BeCeFi website.

11.08.2008 Publication of the BeCeFi annual report 2007. Download the report in Dutch or in French.

11.07.2008 As a result of the press conference with regard to the study "Impact of the notional intrest deduction: opinion of bookkeepers and accountants" and the BeCeFi simulator, reactions in the press can be found here.

10.07.2008 The BeCeFi simulator allowing every entrepreneur to calculate the impact of the notional intrest deduction on his company, has been updated. Visit our webpages about the "notional intrest deduction" in French or in Dutch.

10.07.2008 Through a survey, the BeCeFi asked the bookkeepers and accountants for their opinion on the notional interest deduction. Download the report in Dutch or in French, or read the press release in Dutch or in French.

04.07.2008 The new report credit granting is available under the section "publications". Download the French or the Dutch version of the report, or read the newsletter in French or Dutch.

20.06.2008 Subsidies more and more aimed at SME's
European as well as national and regional governments aim their support measures more frequently at SME’s in Belgium. Flanders alone already grants more than 700 million euros of subsidies per year. The Walloon government pays out more then 400 million euros each year. Moreover, the European government grants several billions of euros annually, of which at least 15% is reserved for SME's. There are several forms of support that are granted to companies: subsidies, fiscal deductions, deduction of social contributions and attractive loans.
Source: Deloitte Belgium (Dutch or French)
Read the publication of Deloitte Fiduciaire here, in Dutch or French

16.05.2008 Three out of four SME's stay in their home market
According to prof. dr. Leo Sleuwaegen and drs. Jonas Onkelinx of the Flanders DC knowledge centre of the Vlerick Leuven Ghent Management School, the economy's globalisation process results in more competition on the SME's home market. At the same time globalisation opens new perspectives which are often underused by Flemish companies. Nonetheless import and export increase the SME's survival rate. SME's have to work out strategies to keep up in this global economy. The existing SME support policy should be adapted to the new market circumstances.
Read the complete press release here (only in Dutch)

20.02.2008 The FEB has published the results of an online survey interrogating companies about the notional interest deduction. The survey generated 150 answers. Below, the most important results are mentioned:
- the respondents note that the measure covers several objectives at the same time of which the lowering of the effective taxation rate is by far the most mentioned objective (39% of the answers);
- 95% of the respondents think that the notional interest deduction has recovered the Belgian fiscal competitiveness with foreign countries. However 82% of the respondents think that this measure is insufficient or just sufficient;
- more than 60% of the respondents think the notional interest deduction had and has a positive effect on employment;
- 75% of the respondents is worried about the controversial discussions that exist in the media. In addition 10% of the respondents has already cancelled decisions made concerning investments or considers moving abroad because of the juridical uncertainty.
Read the press article in French or Dutch

27.11.2007 During the Portuguese Presidency of the EU the "Estoril Declaration of Principles and good Practice Policies on Financing Innovation Value Chain" was submitted to the EU Competitiveness Council of Ministers. An Estoril Observatory will be created to scan, award and dessiminate good practices on financing SMEs, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. More information about financing innovation

26.10.2007 BeCeFi publishes its second quarter 2007 report on credit granting to companies and self-employed in Belgium.
Download the Dutch version of the report
Download the French version of the report

21.11.2007 Deloitte Fiduciaire published the 2007 edition of its annual SME Compass. Based on the financial data of 2200 "Belgian" SME's the evolution of several financial characteristics is summarized. This tool enables companies to compare their performance with the "average" performance of their sector.
More information available at www.kmokompas.be (available in Dutch and French)

24.10.2007 BeCeFi publishes the results of its 2007 annual survey on SME Financing in Belgium.
Download the Dutch version of the report
Download the French version of the report

21.09.2007 The European Commission publishes recommandations concerning SME Financing Read the document

20.09.2007 BeCeFi publishes the final report of the study "Financing business transfers of Belgian SME's"
Download the Dutch version of the report
Download the French version of the report

11.09.2007 BeCeFi publishes its first quarter 2007 report on credit granting to companies and self-employed in Belgium.
Download the Dutch version of the report
Download the French version of the report

19.07.2007 BeCeFi publishes its first report on SME-financing. This report gives an overview of the evolution of SME financing in Belgium in 2006. The publication reports on banking credit but also other forms of SME financing are treated. Finally the report offers an overview of public financing measures for SME's (traditional subsidies are not inlcuded in the report).
Download the Dutch version of the report and its statistical annex
Download the French version of the report and its statistical annex

19.07.2007 Publication of the BeCeFi annual report 2006: summary of the BeCeFi projects during its first year of existence.
Download the Dutch version of the BeCeFi annual report 2006
Download the French version of the BeCeFi annual report 2006.

05.06.2007 Launch of BeCeFi simulator allowing every entrepreneur to calculate the impact of the notional intrest deduction on his company. Visit our webpages about the "notional intrest deduction" in French and in Dutch.

04.06.2007 Annual "BeCeFi Academic Award" to be launched as to foster Belgian research on SME-financing (applications can be sent from 15/7 till 15/10). More information about this initiative.

08.05.2007 During may we lauched the 2007 BeCeFi survey on SME Financing. The survey will be sent to 12.000 companies and self-employed in Belgium. For the first time entrepreneurs can also fill out the survey online. The survey is both available in French and in Dutch. For the entrepreneurs there will also be a banner link available on the homepage of our partners, BEA, FEB , the Participation Fund, UCM, Unizo and UWE. All self-employed and entrepreneurs are hereby invited to participate at this online survey (it is possible to participate till 10th of june 2007).

05.04.2007 BeCeFi set up a working group as to be able to analyse the effects of the "notional intrest deduction" measure . The 8 members of the working group are Jean Baeten (VBO-FEB), Bruno Colmant (Cabinet Minister Didier Reynders), Jean de Lame (UWE), Arnaud Deplae (UCM), Georges Hübner (University Liège), Cindy Laureys (UNIZO), Eddy Laveren (University Antwerpen) en Maurice Olivier (University Liège). Soon we will post more news on the agenda of this working group.

23.02.2007 In Belgium the tariff of the notional intrest deduction for the assessment year 2008 (fiscall year closed on 31 December 2007 or later) amounts to 3,781%, instead of the 3,44% for the assessment year 2007. For SME's the tariff was raised with half a percentage point to 4,281% (KPMG, Belgian Newsletter, February 2007). Furthermore some experts estimated that because of the notional intrest deduction the real corporate taxes would lie between 26% and 27% (Dynamisme Wallon, February 2007).

22.02.2007 In the Netherlands, Rabobank lauched a new internet bank for entrepreneurs: Bizner. Via the website the entrepreneur can get loans and guarantees without visiting his banker. This evolution will be able to improve the access to finance. It can also cause a downward pressure on the banking costs to be paid. With one mouse click the entrepreneur can for example ask a credit of 5000 euro without even having to provide a businessplan.

02.02.2007 New trend: entrepreneurs can borrow more easily money from private persons using some new internetsites. In the countries where those internetsites already exist a business can be financed without using traditional bank loans or traditional micro-credit. In the US the site of kiva brings together private lenders and private borrowers. For the UK we mention the site of zopa and for Holland we site boober. In the coming months the Dutch boober also wants to enter on the Belgian market. A fourth interesting site is the one of prosper. We distinguish sites which have a social point of view (they give investment loans and consumption loans to people in the third world and charge relatively low costs for that) and sites with a more commercial point of view (they often give loans to a more broad public and charge higher costs). The total cost depends on the type of the internet site and often these sites charge on top of the intrest rate a certain percentage of the loan as an extra fee. This manner of credit granting will lower the costs of credit granting and will shorten the time needed to obtain the money needed. In addition more people will get access to credit.

01.02.2007 First report on the impact of micro finance in Belgium available: extensive analysis on this subject ordered by the King Baudouin Foundation and published by BeCeFi and the Proximity Finance Foundation. Download the complete report in Dutch and French.

19.01.2007 Based on a survey of 3000 companies from 7 European countries, the Eurofactor barometer shows that the average payment delay that Belgian companies have to deal with is 62 days (in comparison with 45 days in the UK and 95 days in Portugal). 91% of the Belgian companies launch a procedure to recuperate that money (European average is 80%) and 36% do bill the intrestrate for delayed payments. About 75% of the European companies have a risk not to be paid. In 2007 the demand of financing will continue to increase, but the growth will not be as strong as in 2006. Of the Belgian companies that will transfer their business within 5 years, less than the half have determined the transfer. Only 45% of the Belgian companies that want tu use public aid, complete the application procedure, in France and Germany it is 25%. For more information please download the press release.

18.01.2007 The end of 2006 Ipsos interviewed for the second time 1000 European entrepreneurs from 10 EU member states about the fiscal rules in their country. Results show that 63% of the Belgian entrepreneurs think that the contributions they have to pay are "very high" (Average of the 10 countries: 40%). About 72% of the Belgian entrepreneurs have the opinion that those contributions are higher than in other European countries (Average of the 10 countries: 60%).Download the complete summary of the results (Only in French).

04.01.2007 A report of the "Banque de France" shows that the suppression of the "régime de l’usure" improved the access to credit for SME's, especially for the smallest among them. The above mentioned law fixed an upper limit for the intrest rates for credits to enterprises. Consult the report of the Banque de France (Only in French).

20.12.2006 BeCeFi publishes third quarter 2006 data on credit granting to the self-employed and the small companies. The report presents also figures on 61 sector classes. Download the report.

12.12.2006 Worldwide about 32 billion USD was invested by private equity funds in 2006. This is the highest investment of the private equity sector in the last 5 years, notably in Europe, the United States and China. Most of the investments occur in the sector with technologies that minimize pollution (l'Echo, 12/12/2006).

28.11.2006 New BeCeFi analysis! Business transfers of Belgian SMEs: The financing. Download here the intermediate report in French and in Dutch and the press release.

15.11.2006 Deloitte published for the second time an "SME compass". Based on a sample of 2191 Belgian SME's, several financial figures have been calculated per sector, region and age of the company. This "SME compass" enables the entrepreneur to compare her/his financial figures with those of a peer group. Visit the website of Deloitte for a summary of the results (only in Dutch and French) or to order the analysis for free.

2.11.2006 The Belgian federal government creates financing problems for several SME's: it decided unilaterally as from october onwards not to pay certain bills to its suppliers till february 2007. Download here the BeCeFi summary (only available in French and in Dutch).

18.10.2006 Business tranfers: The website« BruTrade.be » was launched on the 17th of October 2006. This platform of the Brussels Capital Region eases the contacts between the sellers and the buyers of companies. A similar virtual platform has been online in Flanders for more than one year now (www.overnamemarkt.be). The new website also gives a list of intermediate persons and consultants with respect to company transfers. The webpages also explain the different steps of a company tranfer. In addition to the project « BruTrade.be » the Brussels Minister Cerexhe will also offer subsidies for training and consultancy in the context of the tranfer of businesses. On the subject of business transfers, the Minister will also a start a sensitization campaign for entrepreneurs. Visit "BruTrade.be" (in Dutch and French).

13.10.2006 The ECB publishes since january 2003 harmonised information on the interest rates of the different euro countries. In september 2006 a new detailled report was published on that subject: "Differences in MFI interest rates across euro area countries". Also the interest rates for non-financial corporations are analysed. Download here the full report.

13.10.2006 Comparison with Germany? Fresh results from the 2006 survey on enterprise financing of the KfW-Bankengruppe: Link to the KfW survey.

12.10.2006 On the vital subject of "enterpreneurship", Delta Lloyd Life carried out its 2006 survey in Belgium. About 20% of the participants wanted to become an entrepreneur but only 6% wanted that in the following 2 years. This low percentages can be explained by financial risk (54%), required capital (40%) and bad social security (40%). The most important motivation to become an entrepreneur in Belgium is the challenge (70%) and the fact of being your own boss (65%). For more results you can order the full report at the website of Delta Lloyd Life.

3.10.2006 BeCeFi survey 2006 shows that 93% of Belgian SMEs have access to banking credit (press release). The full report will be published within a few weeks.

26.9.2006 BeCeFi publishes second quarter 2006 data on credit granting to the self-employed and the small companies. The report presents also figures on 61 sector classes. Download the report.

25.9.2006 The Flemish ARKimedes Fund published new data on 30 june 2006. ARKimedes invested in 11 ARKIV's (Private funds) an amount that represented a total of 82.352.000€ capital of which 21.155.060€ had already been paid up in full. The investements of these ARKIV's (on 30th of august 2006) were spread over 10 projects and represented 6.680.000€. Next to these realized projects a« term sheet » (proposition of the ARKIV) has been delivered about 16 potential investments (representing an amount of 11.850.000€). Download here the full report (only in Dutch). For a general introduction about the Arkimedes Fund click here (TrendChart, in English).

22.9.2006 The recent report of the World Bank «Doing Business 2007: How to reform» shows that Belgium figures between the 43 countries that reformed their system, between january 2005 and April 2006, as to easen the start-up of a business. In this 2007 ranking Belgium figures again on place 20 when it comes to the ease of starting a business. Download here the report (only in English and Spanish).

11.8.2006 In the context of an analysis of the competion in the financial services sector, the European Commission published on 17 july 2006 an interim report on “current accounts and the related services”. The report also includes interesting results on "banks and SME's" in different EU countries. For more info download the complete report of the European Commission.

20.07.2006 The Flemish Government has approved today the "win-winlening" (ex-"vriendenlening"). This is a subordinated loan (with a maximum of 50.000 euros) granted to a Flemish starter. This loan lasts 8 year and must be repaid in one time. The friend or relative who lends to a Flemish starter gets a fiscal reduction. In a few weeks, people will be allowed to introduce their demands at PMV (ParticipatieMaatschappij Vlaanderen). To get more info, click here. (Only available in Dutch)

7.7.2006 The European translation of the Basel II agreement, the Capital Requirement Directive, was formally adopted on 14 june by the Council and the European Parliament. Click here for the link to the official publication (OJ L 177 of 30th of june 2006).

5.7.2006 The European Commission will support the growth of SME's. The set of measures to help small companies get easier access to external financing so that they can start-up and expand are: (1) More money for SME financing (under the CIP): from 510 million euro (2000-2006) to 1.1 billion euro (2007-2013); (2) Boosting of risk capital funds; (3) More bank finance for innovation and (4) Give more responsibility to the member states. Read the press article .

22.6.2006 The "Financière du Bois SA" and the "Financière Spin-off SA" are two new branches of "Sowalfin" and "Investsud". They were created to finance (via participations or loans) the wood industry and spin offs. The first branch operates in the provinces of Namur, Liège and Luxembourg whereas the second branch limits its activity to the province of Luxembourg.

9.6.2006 The page « Entrepreneur » of the BeCeFi website is now available online in Dutch. Go to "entrepreneurs" webpage .

9.6.2006 : Brussels Regional Investment Company : Figures 2005 & first « B2E » agreements.

1.6.2006 : Bank Lending Survey (April 2006) shows further net easing for loans to small and medium sized enterprises in the Eurozone. Net demand for loans to small and medium sized enterprises was positive, although down from the peak observed in the previous survey in January. These developments would be related to an increased use of alternative finance, either internal finance or loans from other banks. Loan demand has been supported by the increased financing needs for fixed investments. Similarly, mergers and acquisitions and company restructuring remained an important factor supporting loan demand. For more info visit the BLS website of the ECB.

29.05.2006 : Thanks to the cooperation with the National Bank of Belgium, the Belgian Knowledge Center for SME Financing (BeCeFi) - set up 6 months ago - publishes figures on credit granted to the self-employed. The National Bank already publishes figures on credit granted to companies but, thanks to this new cooperation, figures on netto bank credits to the self-employed are available for the first time. Download the French version or the Dutch version of this report.

24.5.2006 : The Banking, Finance and Insurance Commission (CBFA) has approved the emission propspectus of Evadix, a printing house from Tournai. It's the first cotation on the new Alternext market in Brussels, that is dedicaded to SME's. This new Euronext segment offers a more flexible and cheaper access to public capital. Although Alternext is reserved for SME's, Evadix apparently does not not belong to that category as it has currently more than 400 employees and annual sales of more than 30 millions euros. To visit the Alternext website click: www.alternext.be .

21.4.2006 : A survey of the credit management service company "Intrum Justitia" shows that 84% of the Belgian SME's never heard about Basel II. Most enterpreneurs are not prepared yet for the introduction of those capital accord rules in 2007 and may have higher banking costs because of that. Because most SME's don't know the implications of Basel II on their finance, Intrum Justitia launched the website: www.allesoverbasel2.be (in dutch only).

11.4.2006 : From now on Crédal will will get the support of the « Dexia Foundation ». The cooperation embraces financial support and an accompaniment of the clients of Crédal by the personnel of Dexia Bank. In its history, Crédal had been working with Fortis Bank and Bacob Bank.

11.4.2006 : In the context of the "generationspact", the "Plan Young Self-employed" of the Participationfund has been adapted since first of April 2006. The 3 components of the Plan (accompaniment before the start of the business, finance and accompaniment after the start of the business) have been reinforced.

15.3.2006 : a new project of the European Commission (EC) aims at facilitating the transfer of businesses. One of the four pillars in the EC project is financing, in particular the financing for starters, loans and guarantees. The EC stresses the fact that the transfer of a business needs more capital than the start up of a business. For more information please visit the EC website.

10.3.2006 : The Brussels Region created "BE2", a new institution that strenghthens the access to long term credit for SME's in Brussels. Its capital amounts to 78 million € and is partly financed by SRIB/GIMB and partly by the European Investment Bank.
To ditribute the credit a classical method of co-financing with a commercial bank is used. The credit of "B2E" varies from 100.000 € to 750.000 € for a project and is limited to 50% of the total amount of the investment.
More information can be found on the EIB website.

9.3.2006 : The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) announces the creation of a "Entrepreneurship Research & Policy Network (ERPN)". This network also refers to a list with scientific publications concerning "Entrepreneurship and Finance".

8.3.2006 : Since first of march BeCeFi is a partner in the research project of the King Baudouin Foundation and the Proximity Finance Foundation on the impact of micro-finance in Belgium.

7.3.2006 :  A "business transfers" guide made by Unizo, KBC and Roularta will be released in the Trends edition of Thursday 16th march.

6.3.2006 :   Microfinanciering: een haalbare kaart?
Hefboom consultancy office starts a feasibility study on the foundation of a micro-finance institution in Flanders. Hefboom consultancy will analyse the demand of micro-finance and will summarize the relevant problems and opportunities. This research project is financed by Cera (www.cera.be). The project runs from february untill july 2006 in cooperation with their Wallonian colleagues of Crédal.
Contact: Katleen Deruytter, tel. +32 (0)2/ 205 17 20, email Katleen.Deruytter@hefboom.be
Link

9.1.2006 BeCeFi news :  The BeCeFi website will be online on 1 February 2006 and will be available in French and in Dutch. The essential elements of this website will also be available in English.