Financial crisis leads to unequal access to bank credit for SMEs.
The article looks at how banks in the UK changed their lending to small and medium businesses during the financial crisis. They found that before the crisis, banks' financial health didn't affect credit availability. But during the crisis, SMEs near banks with stronger finances had more access to credit, especially when the bank branch was close to the headquarters. This shows that during the crisis, banks focused more on supporting businesses near their main offices.