Banks urged to do more

Banks told to do more to help struggling companies The Chancellor, the governor of the Bank of England and the CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority have written to banks in the UK urging them to do more to save struggling businesses from collapse. Rishi Sunak, Andrew Bailey and Chris Woolard also told lenders not to damage customers' credit ratings if they exceeded overdraft limits or missed loan repayments. The letter was an intervention welcomed by Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Business, who said businesses had been telling the FSB that banks had not been as cooperative as they should be. Banks are also under pressure to revisit the terms of emergency coronavirus loans after lenders including Barclays and HSBC were reportedly asking some directors to sign personal guarantees, as well as to pledge business assets as security. Royal Bank of Scotland has pledged to not ask for personal guarantees to secure the loans.