July saw net lending to UK businesses fell to its lowest level since records began, according to the Bank of England's latest 'Trend in Lending' report. The report also reveals that "the availability of finance remains more constrained for smaller companies". Some of the UK's major lenders told the Bank of England that small firms face tougher lending criteria than larger businesses because they are "less well diversified" and unable to withstand adverse conditions.
To read the full 'Trends in Lending' report go to:
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/other/monetary/TrendsSeptember09.pdf
www.ukba.co.uk
Showing posts with label banks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label banks. Show all posts
Friday, 9 October 2009
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Barclays most complained about bank
The top five High Street banks have accounted for more than 50% of the complaints received this year by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Abbey and HSBC received 38,000 complaints combined, with Barclays the worst offender with over 8,000 complaints.
The FOS deals with complaints from customers in the financial services industry if firms are unable to settle them themselves and in the first half of the year upheld an average of 59% of complaints.
"Putting this information into the open will now give those worse-performing businesses vital encouragement to improve - which should mean fewer of their customers having to bring complaints to the ombudsman that should already have been resolved," said Walter Merricks, the outgoing chief ombudsman.
www.ukba.co.uk
Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Abbey and HSBC received 38,000 complaints combined, with Barclays the worst offender with over 8,000 complaints.
The FOS deals with complaints from customers in the financial services industry if firms are unable to settle them themselves and in the first half of the year upheld an average of 59% of complaints.
"Putting this information into the open will now give those worse-performing businesses vital encouragement to improve - which should mean fewer of their customers having to bring complaints to the ombudsman that should already have been resolved," said Walter Merricks, the outgoing chief ombudsman.
www.ukba.co.uk
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Burt lined up for chairman's role as broker plans to create new bank
TOP City financial analyst is planning to set up his own bank, with former Bank of Scotland chief executive Sir Peter Burt as chairman.
Sandy Chen, of stockbroker Panmure Gordon, is also believed to have enlisted the help of other businessmen to try to raise money in the City to buy banking assets to form the nucleus of the new bank.
It is believed the broker is looking for about £100 million to get the bank off the ground and that this could lead to a flotation of the new company, with the timing dependent on the enthusiasm of the City to the idea.
Sources said the strategy of Chen and his associates was to try to attract affluent customers to place their deposits with the new bank, and then use that money to lend out to small and medium-sized businesses, a business area Chen sees as providing a good investment opportunity.
Read more: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business/Burt-lined-up-for-chairman39s.5622205.jp
www.ukba.co.uk
Sandy Chen, of stockbroker Panmure Gordon, is also believed to have enlisted the help of other businessmen to try to raise money in the City to buy banking assets to form the nucleus of the new bank.
It is believed the broker is looking for about £100 million to get the bank off the ground and that this could lead to a flotation of the new company, with the timing dependent on the enthusiasm of the City to the idea.
Sources said the strategy of Chen and his associates was to try to attract affluent customers to place their deposits with the new bank, and then use that money to lend out to small and medium-sized businesses, a business area Chen sees as providing a good investment opportunity.
Read more: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business/Burt-lined-up-for-chairman39s.5622205.jp
www.ukba.co.uk
Monday, 21 September 2009
SMEs shun enterprise finance scheme - Owners see 'little point' in government help
Small businesses appear to be shunning the government’s finance scheme aimed at helping them weather the recession, new research suggests.
A survey by financial adviser Clifton Asset Management found that nearly a third of small business owner-managers had never heard of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme, while of those that had, 93% saw ‘little point’ in applying for it.
The EFG scheme was introduced in January to secure bank lending to businesses with a turnover of up to £25m.
Under the scheme, successful applicants could get loans of up to £1m but out of the small percentage of businesses who applied for EFG help, the survey found that only 1% was granted funding.
Read more: http://www.accountancymagazine.com/croner/jsp/Editorial.do?channelId=-305535&contentId=1337608
Source: http://www.accountancymagazine.com
www.ukba.co.uk
A survey by financial adviser Clifton Asset Management found that nearly a third of small business owner-managers had never heard of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme, while of those that had, 93% saw ‘little point’ in applying for it.
The EFG scheme was introduced in January to secure bank lending to businesses with a turnover of up to £25m.
Under the scheme, successful applicants could get loans of up to £1m but out of the small percentage of businesses who applied for EFG help, the survey found that only 1% was granted funding.
Read more: http://www.accountancymagazine.com/croner/jsp/Editorial.do?channelId=-305535&contentId=1337608
Source: http://www.accountancymagazine.com
www.ukba.co.uk
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Firms hit by bank stealth charges - Lenders ramp up fees and push companies into more expensive loan deals
High-street banks are hitting small firms with a raft of new charges for borrowing money, say small-business organisations. They are also pushing companies to convert their overdrafts into loans that have higher interest charges and more stringent repayment terms.
Banks are finally starting to lend again, but small and medium enterprises are furious at what they regard as a blatant attempt to squeeze yet more money out of them at a time when many are struggling to stay afloat.
(By Rachel Bridge)
Read more: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6823244.ece
Source: TimesOnLine
www.ukba.co.uk
Banks are finally starting to lend again, but small and medium enterprises are furious at what they regard as a blatant attempt to squeeze yet more money out of them at a time when many are struggling to stay afloat.
(By Rachel Bridge)
Read more: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6823244.ece
Source: TimesOnLine
www.ukba.co.uk
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
SMEs rate their bank as ‘atrocious’
Over 30% of small and medium-sized business owners have rated the helpfulness of their bank in the current economic climate as ‘atrocious', according to a New Business poll.
Despite Banks offering schemes such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee and the Working Capital Scheme many small firms feel that credit has been withdrawn and that there has been a lack of flexibility over overdraft rates.
23% of respondents rated their bank as ‘poor' or ‘average', 18% thought that their bank's performance was ‘good' and only 5% said that their bank had been ‘very good'.
www.ukba.co.uk
Despite Banks offering schemes such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee and the Working Capital Scheme many small firms feel that credit has been withdrawn and that there has been a lack of flexibility over overdraft rates.
23% of respondents rated their bank as ‘poor' or ‘average', 18% thought that their bank's performance was ‘good' and only 5% said that their bank had been ‘very good'.
www.ukba.co.uk
Sunday, 6 September 2009
The “World’s 50 Safest Banks” 2009
With bank stability still high on corporate and investor agendas,Global Finance publishes its 18th annual list of the world’s safest banks. After two tumultuous years that saw many of the world’s most respected banks drop out of the top-50 safest banks list, the dust appears to be settling.
Those banks that kept an iron grip on their risk exposure before the financial crisis blew up have consistently topped the table and maintain their standing among the top echelon in this year’s ranking. At the same time, the big name banks that lost their safest bank ranking during the credit crunch are still absent from the list as they struggle to rebuild their credit standing.
The “World’s 50 Safest Banks” 2009 were selected through a comparison of the long-term credit ratings and total assets of the 500 largest banks around the world. Ratings from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch were used.
Read more: http://www.gfmag.com/tools/bank-rankings/2341-worlds-50-safest-banks-2009.html
www.ukba.co.uk
Those banks that kept an iron grip on their risk exposure before the financial crisis blew up have consistently topped the table and maintain their standing among the top echelon in this year’s ranking. At the same time, the big name banks that lost their safest bank ranking during the credit crunch are still absent from the list as they struggle to rebuild their credit standing.
The “World’s 50 Safest Banks” 2009 were selected through a comparison of the long-term credit ratings and total assets of the 500 largest banks around the world. Ratings from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch were used.
Read more: http://www.gfmag.com/tools/bank-rankings/2341-worlds-50-safest-banks-2009.html
www.ukba.co.uk
Saturday, 29 August 2009
FSB warns against high street banks holding small business monopoly
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is challenging a potential monopoly of power being built up by high street banks over small firms seeking finance, two years after the credit crunch started.
The FSB is warning that bank mergers, recapitalisation and schemes targeted at the big banks to stimulate lending as a result of the banking crisis risk stifling choices of finance for small firms - leaving business owners with nowhere to turn if they are refused credit by the major high street lenders.
With a quarter of small firms still struggling to access affordable finance, the FSB believes the power of the financial sector should be challenged to guarantee a fair service for small firms. The FSB proposes:
- Struggling banks should not be sold off to other high street lenders as this would create massive institutions which could stifle competition in the financial sector;
- Alternative sources of finance should be provided locally. Regional Development Agencies should be restructured to offer loans and Essex County Council's Bank of Essex model should be replicated around the UK. The Enterprise Finance Guarantee and funds already allocated from the European Investment Bank could also be offered via these routes.
- The Post Office should be turned into Post Bank offering support for small firms by utilising the Post Office Network and operating either as a solely state owned bank or as mutual or trustee bank.
- Financial Intermediaries, recently created by the Government, should be actively promoted to viable small businesses unable to access finance.
Read more: http://www.fsb.org.uk/News.aspx?loc=general&rec=5496
Source: Federation of Small Businesses
www.ukba.co.uk
The FSB is warning that bank mergers, recapitalisation and schemes targeted at the big banks to stimulate lending as a result of the banking crisis risk stifling choices of finance for small firms - leaving business owners with nowhere to turn if they are refused credit by the major high street lenders.
With a quarter of small firms still struggling to access affordable finance, the FSB believes the power of the financial sector should be challenged to guarantee a fair service for small firms. The FSB proposes:
- Struggling banks should not be sold off to other high street lenders as this would create massive institutions which could stifle competition in the financial sector;
- Alternative sources of finance should be provided locally. Regional Development Agencies should be restructured to offer loans and Essex County Council's Bank of Essex model should be replicated around the UK. The Enterprise Finance Guarantee and funds already allocated from the European Investment Bank could also be offered via these routes.
- The Post Office should be turned into Post Bank offering support for small firms by utilising the Post Office Network and operating either as a solely state owned bank or as mutual or trustee bank.
- Financial Intermediaries, recently created by the Government, should be actively promoted to viable small businesses unable to access finance.
Read more: http://www.fsb.org.uk/News.aspx?loc=general&rec=5496
Source: Federation of Small Businesses
www.ukba.co.uk
Saturday, 1 August 2009
Darling to press banks over lending
Chancellor Alistair Darling will meet the chairmen and chief executives of Britain's largest banks over concerns that lenders are still failing to provide adequate capital to businesses.
Representatives from Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Barclays will be present at a meeting with the Chancellor today.
Following the government's £37bn bank bailout and interest rates being held at a historic low of 0.5% for several months, there are concerns in the government that banks are not doing enough to help provide finance to individuals and companies.
"We [the government] are playing our part, the banks have got to understand that the public will not understand it if they do not play their part to the full," said Mr Darling.
www.ukba.co.uk
Representatives from Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Barclays will be present at a meeting with the Chancellor today.
Following the government's £37bn bank bailout and interest rates being held at a historic low of 0.5% for several months, there are concerns in the government that banks are not doing enough to help provide finance to individuals and companies.
"We [the government] are playing our part, the banks have got to understand that the public will not understand it if they do not play their part to the full," said Mr Darling.
www.ukba.co.uk
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Banks condemned by Treasury Committee for failing to support small firms
The UK's banks have been dealt another damning blow in the latest report on the banking crisis from the Treasury Committee. Bankers were blamed for making "an astonishing mess" of the financial system, leaving the Committee "very concerned about the availability and terms of credit available to the small business sector". Committee chairman John McFall added: "There is clearly an unresolved inconsistency between, on the one hand, bankers' assurances that they are increasing their lending and, on the other hand, widespread and clearly sincere complaints that credit is difficult to obtain and increasingly expensive."
The report, while welcomed by the small business sector, has been criticised by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) for not doing enough to reflect the work by the banks to help restore the economy and for "seeking headlines". BBA chief executive Angela Knight said: "As an industry we have stepped up to the plate of change and are already addressing many of the points identified by the Committee."
Read more here: http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/treasury_committee/tc0809pn37.cfm
www.ukba.co.uk
The report, while welcomed by the small business sector, has been criticised by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) for not doing enough to reflect the work by the banks to help restore the economy and for "seeking headlines". BBA chief executive Angela Knight said: "As an industry we have stepped up to the plate of change and are already addressing many of the points identified by the Committee."
Read more here: http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/treasury_committee/tc0809pn37.cfm
www.ukba.co.uk
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Small businesses need a go-between to help rebuild ailing relationships with the banks and revive the flagging economy
Over 70% of respondents to the FSB survey commented that a corporate mediator would help to build better relations between banks and small businesses.
The research also showed that a third of small companies consider their bank to be less helpful than before the downturn.
"It is high time the Government took some serious action and built bridges between the banks and the small businesses which keep our economy moving," said FSB chairman John Wright.
"The future health of our economy depends on mending the relationship between small business and the banks; small firms and entrepreneurs need confidence to take the risks to innovate, grow and create jobs and take us out of the recession."
www.ukba.co.uk
The research also showed that a third of small companies consider their bank to be less helpful than before the downturn.
"It is high time the Government took some serious action and built bridges between the banks and the small businesses which keep our economy moving," said FSB chairman John Wright.
"The future health of our economy depends on mending the relationship between small business and the banks; small firms and entrepreneurs need confidence to take the risks to innovate, grow and create jobs and take us out of the recession."
www.ukba.co.uk
Friday, 17 April 2009
High street banks’ lending to small businesses increased by £211 million
There was little change in deposits, while over 44,000 new small businesses banking relationships were established.
Commenting on the data, BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said:
“Lending to the 3.8 million small businesses supported by the main high street banks rose again in February and significant numbers of new small business relationships continue to be established, despite the current recession and regular reports of difficult business conditions. Deposit balances are little changed, reflecting the slow trading environment many businesses are facing.”
Source: www.bba.org.uk
www.ukba.co.uk
Commenting on the data, BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said:
“Lending to the 3.8 million small businesses supported by the main high street banks rose again in February and significant numbers of new small business relationships continue to be established, despite the current recession and regular reports of difficult business conditions. Deposit balances are little changed, reflecting the slow trading environment many businesses are facing.”
Source: www.bba.org.uk
www.ukba.co.uk
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Think tank says small businesses will be 'drivers of the recovery'
A call to break up the banks, split retail and investment banking, and provide a lot more support for small companies....
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) says that the latest Government efforts to revive the economy will not work as the UK's banks have become 'unfit for purpose'.
Don't throw good money after bad
The organisation has urged the Government to rebuild a sound financial sector. Instead of 'throwing good money after bad', NEF suggests the Government should:
de-merge the big banks
separate retail banking from corporate finance and securities dealing
support community finance initiatives and small businesses, who will be the drivers of the recovery. (Small businesses provided 59% of private sector jobs in the UK in 2007).
Banking failures and failed rescue attempt
The report, IOUK: banking failure and how to build a fit financial sector, looks at the behaviour of the UK's banking sector. If finds that the nation's banks have withdrawn from the heart of communities, sidelined their basic business, lost touch with the real needs of their customers and become structurally unable to serve them, it says. While flooding the economy with inappropriate credit they contributed to a financial drought in disadvantaged areas and starved small businesses of the credit they needed to survive.
And the Government's rescue attempts have so far failed. Despite virtual nationalisation and a £37bn bailout of the biggest banks, the Government seems powerless to force banks to lend appropriately.
NEF says that The Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme which replaced the Small Firms Guarantee Scheme has failed to kickstart lending (despite Lord Mandelson's claims in an announcement slipped out quietly on 20 February in response to media criticism) and is weighted in favour of larger firms.
Yet a "sleeping architecture" of a more robust local financial infrastructure exists in the credit unions, community finance and local enterprise schemes that are working on the frontline of financial exclusion.
The paper includes case studies of viable businesses failed by the banks but supported by this parallel infrastructure. The report's authors say that this sector should be supported and a UK Community Reinvestment Act be brought in to force banks to partner with them.
Comment from the author
Sargon Nissan, Business and Finance Researcher at NEFand co-author of the report, commented:
"The Bank of England has reached a dead end with interest rate cuts and the decision to flood the economy with £75 billion of new money through 'quantitative easing'; is just another form of bail out. The Government is in denial if it thinks we can go back to business as usual; that's what caused the crisis.
"If banks became too big to let fail, how can the answer be to make even fewer banks even bigger and keep channelling all the funds through them? We need to bring banks back to their original function, break them up and return them to a scale where they are in touch with the communities, people and businesses they should have been serving all along."
www.ukba.co.uk
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) says that the latest Government efforts to revive the economy will not work as the UK's banks have become 'unfit for purpose'.
Don't throw good money after bad
The organisation has urged the Government to rebuild a sound financial sector. Instead of 'throwing good money after bad', NEF suggests the Government should:
de-merge the big banks
separate retail banking from corporate finance and securities dealing
support community finance initiatives and small businesses, who will be the drivers of the recovery. (Small businesses provided 59% of private sector jobs in the UK in 2007).
Banking failures and failed rescue attempt
The report, IOUK: banking failure and how to build a fit financial sector, looks at the behaviour of the UK's banking sector. If finds that the nation's banks have withdrawn from the heart of communities, sidelined their basic business, lost touch with the real needs of their customers and become structurally unable to serve them, it says. While flooding the economy with inappropriate credit they contributed to a financial drought in disadvantaged areas and starved small businesses of the credit they needed to survive.
And the Government's rescue attempts have so far failed. Despite virtual nationalisation and a £37bn bailout of the biggest banks, the Government seems powerless to force banks to lend appropriately.
NEF says that The Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme which replaced the Small Firms Guarantee Scheme has failed to kickstart lending (despite Lord Mandelson's claims in an announcement slipped out quietly on 20 February in response to media criticism) and is weighted in favour of larger firms.
Yet a "sleeping architecture" of a more robust local financial infrastructure exists in the credit unions, community finance and local enterprise schemes that are working on the frontline of financial exclusion.
The paper includes case studies of viable businesses failed by the banks but supported by this parallel infrastructure. The report's authors say that this sector should be supported and a UK Community Reinvestment Act be brought in to force banks to partner with them.
Comment from the author
Sargon Nissan, Business and Finance Researcher at NEFand co-author of the report, commented:
"The Bank of England has reached a dead end with interest rate cuts and the decision to flood the economy with £75 billion of new money through 'quantitative easing'; is just another form of bail out. The Government is in denial if it thinks we can go back to business as usual; that's what caused the crisis.
"If banks became too big to let fail, how can the answer be to make even fewer banks even bigger and keep channelling all the funds through them? We need to bring banks back to their original function, break them up and return them to a scale where they are in touch with the communities, people and businesses they should have been serving all along."
www.ukba.co.uk
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Only One In 20 SMEs Confident Of Bank Lending
The number of business owners confident of being able to secure bank funding has plummeted from 73 to six per cent over the past year, according to a poll.
One in ten owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is turning to family and friends for cash, six times as many as 12 months ago, according to the survey of 505 business owners from asset-based lender Close Invoice Finance.
That implies that 540,000 businesses across the UK are borrowing from family and friends to keep afloat.
‘The relationship between banks and SMEs has collapsed, with severe repercussions for the sector as a whole,’ says David Thompson, CEO of Close Invoice Finance.
‘With banks now closing their doors to SMEs, owners are relying on friends and family for financial support, placing immense pressure on these most precious relationships,’ adds Thompson.
Last month the government set aside £10 billion to guarantee £20 billion of bank loans to businesses with sales of up to £500 million.
Source: http://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/news/business-news/996147/only-one-in-20-smes-confident-of-bank-lending.thtml
One in ten owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is turning to family and friends for cash, six times as many as 12 months ago, according to the survey of 505 business owners from asset-based lender Close Invoice Finance.
That implies that 540,000 businesses across the UK are borrowing from family and friends to keep afloat.
‘The relationship between banks and SMEs has collapsed, with severe repercussions for the sector as a whole,’ says David Thompson, CEO of Close Invoice Finance.
‘With banks now closing their doors to SMEs, owners are relying on friends and family for financial support, placing immense pressure on these most precious relationships,’ adds Thompson.
Last month the government set aside £10 billion to guarantee £20 billion of bank loans to businesses with sales of up to £500 million.
Source: http://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/news/business-news/996147/only-one-in-20-smes-confident-of-bank-lending.thtml
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