This can have repercussions on the access to credit for small and new firms since bank M&As change bank efficiency and competition, but it also changes the way banks evaluate corporate borrowers: it decreases soft vs. hard information for lending decisions, i.e. bank M&As might distract some participants from small business lending, which relies on soft information at local level.
I fully share the call of the Managing Director in her Global Policy Agenda that addressing structural deficiencies are a priority to unlock growth, at the global level and definitely also in the euro area. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3