Better terms for CBILS

Following the creation of the Government’s new Bounce Back Loans scheme (BBLS), further changes to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) have also been announced.  To speed up the provision of finance to small and medium-sized businesses under CBILS, the largest seven SME lenders (Barclays Bank UK, Danske Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Santander and Virgin Money) have stated that rather than relying on businesses providing forecasts and business plans in applications, lenders will use their own information. <span>A joint statement from the seven largest SME lenders and UK Finance proclaimed: “Following the changes to the scheme announced today lenders will only ask businesses for information and data they might reasonably be able to provide at speed and we will not require the provision of forward-looking financial information or business plans from businesses applying for CBILS-backed lending, relying instead on our own information to assess credit and business viability.”</span>