Lloyds delivers over £1bn in ‘bounce back loans’ on first day of scheme May 5, 2020 Lloyds Bank has delivered over £1bn in “bounce back loans” to 32,000 small businesses on the first day of the scheme. The bounce back loan scheme is the newest government support package for UK firms hit by the financial impact of the coronavirus. Banks have reported a huge demand for the loans, and since its [...]
London small business boss blasts Barclays over coronavirus loan scheme May 5, 2020 Small businesses are at risk of collapse due to stringent eligibility rules for emergency coronavirus loans, the boss of a London marketing agency rejected for a loan has warned. Richard Cox, co-founder of The Village Communications, accused banks of a “complete lack of interest” in helping small firms that were struggling to stay afloat during [...]
More than 100,000 UK firms apply for ‘bounce back loans’ on first day May 5, 2020 UK banks have reported huge demand for “bounce back loans” on the first day of the new coronavirus lending scheme yesterday, with more than 100,000 of Britain’s smallest businesses applying by this afternoon. The bounce back loan scheme is the latest coronavirus support package for UK firms. Launched yesterday, it offers the UK’s smallest companies [...]
Lloyds boss: Coronavirus business loan scheme was ‘painful’ and ‘flawed’ when launched May 4, 2020 The launch of the government’s coronavirus business loan scheme was “painful” and “flawed”, according to one of the top bosses of Lloyds Bank. David Oldfield, group director and chief executive of commercial banking at Lloyds, said today that the government’s emergency loan scheme was “cumbersome and onerous” when it launched. He added that he still [...]
HSBC receives 12,800 applications for ‘bounce-back loans’ in first few hours May 4, 2020 The UK’s biggest banks have been inundated with requests from small businesses for new coronavirus “bounce-back loans”, with HSBC receiving 12,800 applications in the first few hours of the scheme. The government’s newest coronavirus lending scheme launched today and offers the UK’s smallest companies loans worth 25 per cent of turnover, up to £50,000, just [...]
Barclays receiving 35 applications a minute for bounce back loans May 4, 2020 Barclays has received 35 loan applications per minute this morning for the newly launched bounce bank loan scheme, according to the bank’s UK boss. Barclays Bank UK chief executive Matt Hammerstein told a House of Commons committee today that his bank received received 200 applications within minutes of the emergency scheme opening at 8am. The [...]
The CEO Perspective: How is COVID-19 defining business purpose? May 1, 2020 When the dust settles, will business emerge having played its part and who will have stayed true to their purpose? As leaders strive to steer their corporate ships through unimaginably stormy waters, there’s an understandable need to focus solely on the management of immediate, operational and financial issues. But in the midst of uncertainty, companies [...]
RBS profit nearly halves due to coronavirus uncertainty May 1, 2020 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) saw its profit nearly halve in the first quarter of 2020 due to the ongoing uncertainty caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Despite the fall, the bank insisted it was in a “strong positon” to deal with a significant economic downturn. Shares in the bank rose 1.6 per cent in [...]
Coronavirus small business loan lending tops £4.1bn but concerns remain over scheme April 30, 2020 Coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) lending has topped £4.1bn, according to bank industry body UK Finance. Over £1.33bn of loans were approved in the week to 28 April. The number of loans provided through the scheme has increased by 8,638 over the same period to a total of 25,262, an increase of over 50 [...]
Societe Generale plunges to first quarter loss on bad loan provisions April 30, 2020 Societe Generale posted a first-quarter loss today, blaming provisions for bad loans which jumped threefold as a response to the coronavirus crisis. The French banking giant said it lost €326m (£283m) during the quarter, compared to a €686m profit last year. Revenue fell 16.5 per cent to €5.17bn and underlying net income fell 90.8 per [...]