There is not much enthusiasm in government ranks for the report of the Senate Economics Reference Committee's inquiry into small business access to finance. A government source told Banking Day small business finance issues were already covered in the National Credit Reform phase two green paper, issued last week, and there was not much interest in the Senate Committee's recommendations.The Senate Committee report was tabled on June 30 but has received little attention, overtaken first by the launch of the Credit Act on July 1 and then by the release of the Cooper Review a week later.The committee found that the supply of finance to small business had tightened over the past couple of years and become more expensive, but it concluded that a return to more prudent credit conditions was appropriate.It was more concerned with what it saw as restriction on competition, particularly exit fees on loans and the high cost of moving accounts. It recommended that banks abolish exit fees on variable-rate loans.The committee wants the government to retain its four pillars policy. And it wants a moratorium on approval of any further takeovers in the banking industry for one year, unless the bank being taken over is at risk of failure.It recommended that the Trade Practices Act be amended to clarify the definition of market power, so that the test is less than market dominance and does not require a company to have unfettered power to set prices.The committee wants the regulators to produce an annual report to Parliament on competition in retail banking and the provision of finance to small business. The committee cited a proposal from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for a senior loan officer survey, along the lines of surveys conducted in the US, UK, Europe and Japan, to determine supply and demand conditions.It recommended that the Australian Bankers Association work with small business organisations to develop a code of practice for lending to small business.The government's green paper includes a proposal to extend to small business the protection currently available to consumers.Such a change would mean small business would have ASIC acting as a watchdog over exit fees. It would also give small businesses better access to mechanisms for negotiating with lenders when they are in financial difficulty. And it would impose responsible lending obligations on small business lenders.These protections would obviate the need for several of the Senate Committee recommendations. One idea the government may take on board is the introduction of a loan officer survey.