Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government should convert the projected £35bn of bad debt from small business owners who have taken out Covid loans into tax owing.
Converting the bad debt into tax that could be repaid over years to HMRC would free up cash better spent on investment and saving 3m jobs.
So say over 250 financial experts led by Aviva chairman Sir Adrian Montague in the long-awaited report from TheCityUK.
TheCityUK Recapitalisation Group calls for the Government to back a “UK Recovery Corporation”, which would manage £35bn of unsustainable debt already Government guaranteed.
>See also: Government should triple equity to invest in businesses to £30bn
Over time, private investors could invest in the UK Recovery Corporation, encouraging the public to back SMEs in Britain, something chancellor Rishi Sunak is keen on.
Depending on how much money they owe, small businesses could either go into a “Business Repayment Plan” to convert unmanageable loans into means-test tax liabilities, or, for larger debts, use “Business Recovery Capital” to convert COVID-19 crisis loans into preference shares or long-term subordinated debt.
Both solutions mean small businesses will not have to give up any equity in their businesses.
>See also: Bim Afolami calls for £15bn Recovery Fund for scale-ups
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City grandees call for small business Covid debt to be turned into tax owing
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government should convert the projected £35bn of bad debt from small business owners who have taken out Covid loans into tax owing.
Converting the bad debt into tax that could be repaid over years to HMRC would free up cash better spent on investment and saving 3m jobs.
So say over 250 financial experts led by Aviva chairman Sir Adrian Montague in the long-awaited report from TheCityUK.
TheCityUK Recapitalisation Group calls for the Government to back a “UK Recovery Corporation”, which would manage £35bn of unsustainable debt already Government guaranteed.
>See also: Government should triple equity to invest in businesses to £30bn
Over time, private investors could invest in the UK Recovery Corporation, encouraging the public to back SMEs in Britain, something chancellor Rishi Sunak is keen on.
Depending on how much money they owe, small businesses could either go into a “Business Repayment Plan” to convert unmanageable loans into means-test tax liabilities, or, for larger debts, use “Business Recovery Capital” to convert COVID-19 crisis loans into preference shares or long-term subordinated debt.
Both solutions mean small businesses will not have to give up any equity in their businesses.
>See also: Bim Afolami calls for £15bn Recovery Fund for scale-ups
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HSBC handling of bounce-back loans branded ‘shambles’ by businesses
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small businesses say HSBC is pushing them to the brink of collapse because of the time it is taking to approve bounce-back loans.
Another small business owner says her mental health has been affected by the “sham” of her experience of applying for an HSBC bounce-back loan.
HSBC’s own bounce-back loan guidelines say it aims to respond to applications within a couple of days.
Yet HSBC business customers say they have been left hanging for weeks for approved applications to be processed and money to appear in their accounts.
>See also: Half of small businesses will never repay Bounce Back Loans, warn banks
Some HSBC customers say the bank’s unresponsiveness is pushing them into going out of business.
“They have left me to go under,” said Darren Smith of Chorley-based DMS Minibus Hire, who applied for a bounce-back loan on May 16, having been an HSBC customer for over 30 years, and is still waiting for his money, despite HSBC assuring him the money would hit his account within two days.
“So many businesses are going bust due to this farce,” said childminder Louise Blazys, who is also waiting for any communication for HSBC, despite applying three weeks ago.
Alan Larking,
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Forgive all small businesses coronavirus debt, urges George Osborne
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Former chancellor George Osborne has called for all coronavirus emergency debt taken out by small and micro businesses to be forgiven.
Speaking to the Treasury select committee on Wednesday, June 3 alongside two other former chancellors, Mr Osborne said the Government should eventually write off billions of pounds worth of loans to small and micro businesses “who are engines of growth”.
Treasury officials would “hate” the idea, said Mr Osborne, but any recovery will be stymied if small businesses face years strangled by coronavirus debt.
“Even if in a couple years’ time when the corporate sector owes a lot of money – particularly the micro businesses, small businesses who are engines of growth and can be completely held back by large credit burden – I think then the government should look at some sort of debt forgiveness,” he said.
“At some point in the next couple of years you either write them off or, what I expect will happen, is every six months or year the chancellor at the time announces that the lending terms are pushed out, the rates are kept very low and so on.
“But it would be better as a big act of debt
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Half of small businesses will never repay Bounce Back Loans, warn banks
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Banks are warning that small businesses will never repay up to half of the Bounce Back Loans that have been taken out.
Moreover, when this happens, the Chancellor should prepare for the collapse of hundreds of thousands of small businesses.
Three senior bankers have warned that between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of the 608,000 borrowers who have taken out £18.5bn of Bounce Back Loans could eventually default on the debt.
Although the Government has said it will guarantee 100 per cent of the loans up to £50,000, it is still down to banks to pursue defaulters for the debt.
Executives say it would be logistically impossible to take hundreds and thousands of small, often family-run businesses to court, and that it would be a PR disaster for high street banks.
“Some arrangements will have to be made. A lot of them will be written off or converted into something else,” one bank chairman told the Financial Times. “In most cases the idea of the government taking equity in these companies is unrealistic — they are simply too small. So the question is what’s going to happen to all of these loans?”
RBS calls for bad loan
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Nearly half of small businesses do not intend to repay government loans
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Nearly half of small businesses that have taken out government emergency coronavirus loans do not intend to repay them.
Forty-three per cent of businesses that have taken out either Bounce Back Loans or Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans say they do not believe the government will chase the debt, or that they will be unable to repay the loan, according to the Business Banking Resolution Service.
Nearly 60 per cent of the 500 small businesses surveyed by the BBRS have accessed government-guaranteed loan schemes.
The Bounce Back Loans offer struggling small businesses up to £50,000 interest free for the first 12 months, with a low 2.5 per cent interest rate after that.
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) supports loans of up to £5m per small business.
>See also: Microbusiness £50,000 Bounce Back Loans – how they work
According to UKFinance, both schemes have lent £22bn of government-backed loans between them to almost half a million businesses.
Over £14bn has been handed out through Bounce Back loans, along with more than £7bn via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme which is aimed at slightly larger players and has stricter rules.
The BBRS survey raises the prospect of thousands of firms having to be
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State could take equity in small businesses, suggests Lloyds chairman
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Lord Blackwell, chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, has suggested the government could end up owning equity in thousands of small businesses.
The Lloyds chairman thinks the government would be better off converting loans it is already guaranteeing into equity stakes in small businesses if loans go bad.
Banks and the government would need to work together to “think about how we transform some of that debt that they’ve accumulated into some other kind of security”, he said.
The Bounce Back Loans scheme, which launched on Monday, May 4, lent over £2bn to more than 69,000 small businesses within its first 24 hours.
The parallel Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) has lent £5.5bn to 33,812 businesses since its launch on March 23.
Lord Blackwell, 67, told an online seminar organised by City & Financial Global that debts could be converted into equity or an equity-type of security.
Viable businesses
Government and banks “do need to think about what will be required to recapitalise some of those businesses to ensure that they are viable going forward and otherwise viable businesses aren’t forced into insolvency or liquidation”, he said.
Devising a solution “needs working through urgently so that we can give businesses some
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Microbusiness £50,000 Bounce Back Loans – how they work
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The government has launched its microbusiness Bounce Back Loans scheme with a higher than expected £50,000 limit and a 100 per cent guarantee.
Businesses will be able to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 and access the cash within days
Loans will be interest free for the first 12 months, and businesses can apply online through a short and simple form
The microbusiness Bounce Back Loans scheme is capped at 25 per cent of turnover and promises a streamlined application process.
Treasury says that the new microbusiness loan scheme will open next Monday, May 4 and will deliver cash to successful applicants within 24 hours.
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, said: “Our smallest businesses are the backbone of our economy and play a vital role in their communities. This new rapid loan scheme will help ensure they get the finance they need quickly to help survive this crisis.”
Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “To date, the existing interruption loan scheme has not been working for the small firms that make-up 99% of our business community.
“The decision by the chancellor to listen to our recommendation for a 100 per cent guarantee on smaller loans, alongside the