PART 1

Access to finance

Financial information about businesses

Small and medium sized businesses: information to finance platforms
5
1
Where—
a
a small or medium sized business has applied to a designated bank for a loan or other credit facility, and
b
the application has been unsuccessful,
the Treasury may by regulations impose a duty on the bank to provide specified information about the business to designated finance platforms.
2
The regulations—
a
must provide that the duty only applies where the business to which the information relates agrees to its information being provided to the designated finance platforms;
b
may require a bank—
i
to seek the agreement of a business for the purposes of paragraph (a);
ii
to ask the business for any of the specified information that the bank does not already have;
iii
to provide the information to the finance platforms within a specified time period.
3
The regulations may make further provision about the duty in subsection (1), which may in particular include provision about—
a
the types of loans and credit facilities that trigger the duty,
b
the circumstances in which an application is to be considered unsuccessful, and
c
the finance platforms to which information must be provided.
4
Where a finance platform has received information by virtue of subsection (1), the Treasury may by regulations—
a
impose a duty on the finance platform to provide specified information to all finance providers requesting access to the information, and
b
impose a duty on the finance platform to provide specified information about a particular business to a finance provider where—
i
the finance provider has requested information about the business, and
ii
the business has agreed to its information being provided to the finance provider.
5
Information specified for the purposes of subsection (4)(a) must be in such a form that no individual business, and no person associated with the business, can be identified.
6
The regulations may provide that the duty in subsection (4)(a) or (b) does not apply unless—
a
the finance provider or business agrees to the finance platform's terms and conditions;
b
the finance provider complies with specified requirements about the use and disclosure of the information.
7
The regulations may make further provision about the duties in subsection (4)(a) and (b), including in particular provision—
a
requiring the finance platform to provide the information within a specified time period;
b
setting out how a request by a finance provider must be made to a finance platform;
c
setting out how a business may indicate agreement for the purposes of subsection (4)(b)(ii);
d
about the time period for which information must be kept by the finance platform;
e
about the removal of information from the finance platform.
8
The regulations may make provision—
a
prohibiting finance platforms from charging fees to small and medium sized businesses, or
b
permitting finance platforms to charge fees to small and medium sized businesses.
9
The regulations must make provision for the designation of banks and finance platforms by the Treasury, and the regulations may in particular provide for—
a
conditions that must be met for a bank or finance platform to be designated;
b
considerations that the Treasury may take into account before deciding whether to designate a bank or finance platform;
c
the Treasury to consider the advice of another person before making a designation;
d
the procedure for designating a bank or finance platform;
e
how the list of designated banks and finance platforms must be published;
f
the revocation of a designation.
10
In this section “specified” means specified or described in the regulations.