Recital 59
(59) Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are one of the pillars of the Union's economy as they play a fundamental role in creating economic growth and providing employment. Given the fact that SMEs carry a lower systematic risk than larger corporates, capital requirements for SME exposures should be lower than those for large corporates to ensure an optimal bank financing of SMEs. Currently, SME exposures of up to EUR 1,5 million are subject to a 23,81 % reduction in risk weighted exposure amount. Given that the threshold of EUR 1,5 million for an SME exposure is not indicative of a change in riskiness of an SME, reduction in capital requirements should be extended to SME exposures of up to EUR 2,5 million and the part of an SME exposure exceeding EUR 2,5 million should be subject to a 15 % reduction in capital requirements.
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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-12 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.