Bank fund to boost SME lending
Oct 14 2010
Previously airtight bank vaults are set to open for SMEs
Borrowing prospects for small businesses have been boosted with the unveiling of a £1.5 billion fund from the major banks.
A consortium consisting of HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered and Banco Santander SA’s UK unit will contribute to the fund over a number of years.
The group was set up to investigate concerns that banks were not providing enough support to viable businesses.
John Varley, chief executive of Barclays, says: ‘As banks we have an obligation to help the UK economy return to growth. The private sector will play a key role in the recovery and it's our job to help viable firms to be successful.’
The fund will operate through an independent board, including bank and Government representatives, and could start rolling out investments by April.
Comment by Stephen Grice
Thursday 14th October 2010As I understand, this fund is only for businesses who turn over £10M - £100M. This means that the greater part of the SME sector has been ignored by the banks again. They might as well formally withdraw from the smaller end of the market instead of pretending to be intersted.
Report this comment
Comments [1]