Law360 is providing free access to its coronavirus coverage to make sure all members of the legal community have accurate information in this time of uncertainty and change. Use the form below to sign up for any of our weekly newsletters. Signing up for any of our section newsletters will opt you in to the weekly Coronavirus briefing.
Sign up for our Corporate Crime & Compliance UK newsletter
You must correct or enter the following before you can sign up:
Thank You!
Law360, London (May 1, 2020, 5:03 PM BST ) Parliament's Treasury Committee repeated demands on Friday for a banking lobby group to disclose daily data on lending by banks under the government's emergency coronavirus loan scheme after an initial request was declined.
The committee has been grilling regulators and trade associations on the slow pace at which banks are approving largely government-backed loans of up to £5 million ($6.2 million) to small businesses.
Committee Chairman Mel Stride insisted in a letter to UK Finance published on Friday that it must share daily figures with MPs about how well the scheme is reaching affected businesses. The trade body rejected an earlier request, citing issues with the quality of the data.
Stride said that he did not want to create "unnecessary pressure" for the financial sector. He said his committee would accept that UK Finance has already provided the data to the government.
"If the chancellor can have it to inform decisions, then the Treasury Committee should have it in order to conduct effective scrutiny in this area," Stride said in a statement. "The maximum transparency around progress in getting these loans out the door will help get further vital lending to businesses that are struggling to survive."
UK Finance Chief Executive Stephen Jones has raised concerns that the daily publishing of raw, unverified data could undermine the understanding of the scheme and confidence in it.
The trade group has been approached for comment.
Stride also asked for information on the roll-out of the government's so-called bounce back loans, which launch on Monday, to be collected. The "micro loans" for small businesses will be 100%-backed by the government and will allow businesses to borrow 25% of their turnover — up to £50,000. The loans will also be interest-free for a year.
The business interruption loan scheme was announced on March 17 and is available to businesses with turnover of £45 million or less. That was later extended to other, larger companies, which could secure loans of up to £25 million, while businesses with turnover of more than £250 million could gain loans of up to £50 million.
The government has been forced to reform the program following early criticism. Lenders were criticized for requesting personal guarantees from small business owners, as the loans are largely being underwritten by the state.
The Treasury Committee will question bosses from five U.K lenders on Monday on their response to the coronavirus crisis.
--Editing by Ed Harris.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
