Budapest Stock Exchange

“Should I take a loan or should I get listed on the stock exchange?” Not too many small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) ask themselves this question when they look for financing. If smaller companies acquire finance through capital, they typically choose capital increase or the involvement of a co-owner they already know. Financing from the stock exchange is rarely studied as an option. “It is a game for the big players”, “It is not for a small company like mine”, “Financing from my bank is cheaper”; these are some of the most frequent answers we get when we contact the managers of SMEs. In this article, we will prove that the company does not need to be a giant to be listed. If the institutional and market circumstances are right, a stock market specialized in SMEs can be an important channel for the growth and financing of businesses. We will try to identify those shared characteristics that have made the key SME markets successful around the world. We will also discuss the possibilities for developing a market in Hungary.