Small companies that tapped UK Covid loans face having names made public

Banks can be compelled to reveal the names of small companies that took UK government-backed emergency pandemic loans if anti-corruption campaigners persuade a decide subsequent week that disclosure is within the public curiosity.

Highlight on Corruption will ask a tribunal on Monday to order the British Enterprise Financial institution to adjust to a freedom of knowledge request it lodged two years in the past to publish the names of all firms that accessed the bounce again mortgage scheme (BBLS).

In the course of the pandemic, small companies borrowed £47bn from banks underneath the scheme, which was 100 per cent state-guaranteed. Official estimates counsel the UK taxpayer faces losses of virtually £5bn from fraudsters who exploited minimal checks across the programme.

Highlight lodged an FoI request in 2020 with the British Enterprise Financial institution, which oversees the scheme, to call all the businesses that obtained BBLS loans. However the request was rejected by the financial institution, citing a private information safety exemption, a call that was upheld by the Data Commissioner’s Workplace, the regulator.

This week, the British Enterprise Financial institution warned the lenders concerned within the scheme it might be compelled to publish the names of debtors. In an electronic mail seen by the Monetary Occasions, it mentioned ought to Highlight win the enchantment then it might be “ordered to reveal the main points of all or a few of these debtors who obtained a facility underneath . . . BBLS”.

George Havenhand, senior authorized researcher at Highlight on Corruption, mentioned: “Subsequent week’s listening to will shine a light-weight on authorities decision-making that may price taxpayers billions of kilos and has been a bonanza for fraudsters.

“Transparency about who receives taxpayer-backed loans is central to stopping fraud — if these names had been printed again in 2020 . . . these enormous losses may have been prevented.”

The British Enterprise Financial institution already publishes names of firms that borrowed from different Covid-19 schemes, corresponding to coronavirus enterprise interruption loans. However some bankers are involved that in case of BBLS, people can be uncovered, as lots of the firms that used them have been sole merchants with accounts of their identify.

One banker mentioned: “It’s a transparent battle between freedom of knowledge and banking confidentiality guidelines.”

One other mentioned: “The important thing subject is it’s about private information. A variety of bounce again loans are sole merchants, they usually didn’t signal a previous settlement that mentioned their information might be launched.”

The British Enterprise Financial institution mentioned the data included “a considerable quantity of non-public information” the place “companies commerce underneath the names of their proprietors”.

It added: “Free publication of a database of near 1.7mn loans, and the complete particulars of the companies who’ve obtained them, runs the chance of presenting a possibility to fraudsters, who might utilise the data to their benefit, for instance to commit id theft or to hold out varied social engineering frauds.”

The enchantment listening to is scheduled to final three days.