Prime Minister Pledges Bank Shake Up to Boost Lending

Wed, 27 Oct 2010

The Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that he will use the sale of government stakes in Lloyds Banking Group and The Royal Bank of Scotland to increase competition and improve lending to small businesses in the UK.

Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference in London, he said he wants to make sure that the country has "a banking sector that’s really focused on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending ".

Business Secretary Vince Cable said that businesses across the UK are suffering from a lack of choice, with the retail banking sector dominated by "just three or four" big players.

"We have reached a point where thousands of businesses have a choice of just three or four partners, which is clearly unhealthy and open to abuse," he commented.

"So in five years time we would like a much broader choice for businesses. More banks who understand SME finance, more non-bank sources of finance, more use of equity and more specialist knowledge of sectors."

The comments underline the coalition government’s plans to change the shape of British banking, which is dominated by Barclays, HSBC, RBS, Lloyds, Standard Chartered and Banco Santander SA.

According to the British Bankers’ Association, the ‘big six’ were responsible for 61 per cent of business lending at the end of 2009.
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page



 

Business Newsletter

Please enter your email below and subscribe to our monthly newsletter

Reduce mortgage paymentsSave on Your Mortgage

Would you like to save money on your mortgage? Fill out our quick mortgage enquiry form.

Health InsuranceProtect Your Health

Find Critical illness, Life and Private Medical Insurance PMI policies.