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How to make the bank say ‘yes’


The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the British Bankers’ Association have identified five steps you can take to ensure your business loan application has the greatest chance for success. 1. Develop a robust business plan – Your business plan is crucial to demonstrate the businesses financials, showing that you can repay a loan.Your plan should demonstrate you have done your homework, researched your market and competitors as well as identified clear routes to market and highlighted when you expect […]

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The banking reform Bill will be a missed opportunity if it does not support community banking


The second reading of the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill is today. This is the main debate on the principle of the Bill. It was previously provisionally scheduled for last Monday. I have found myself assigned to statutory instrument committees on both occasions, potentially preventing me from speaking in the debate. I was notified of today’s duty late on Friday, too late to find a substitute. Of course I am disappointed this means I probably won’t be able to make […]

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The Government should now adopt my bill on bank accounting


Accounting seems so dreary but what if broken rules allow banks to show false profits, overstate capital and hide losses? What if the banks have paid bonuses out of unrealised gains? The Bill I introduced in March 2011 deals with just those problems. All the details are here. I learnt today that the Bank of England will make a statement on Thursday about bank balance sheets. I expect they will require assets to be written down and more capital to […]

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In the House today: Financial Services and Prudential Requirements


This afternoon an EU document relating to Financial Services and Prudential Requirements was placed before the House of Commons. It was not debated: debate took place in Committee last week. I attended, though I was not formally assigned to the Committee. The EU’s proposals amount to further European Union encroachment and unnecessary regulation: the document, rather than teaching granny to suck eggs, teaches bankers to make loans. It is fundamentally misguided. The EU’s preoccupation with attempting to regulate away the […]

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Government faces fresh questions over accounting rules | The Guardian


Further to my work on accounting: The government is facing fresh questions about whether current accounting rules are suitable for banks, amid claims that they permit the overstatement of profits and fail to provide a proper picture of losses. The issue is being raised by Lord MacGregor, chairman of the House of Lords economic affairs committee, in a letter to Norman Lamb, the newly appointed employment minister, who also has responsibility for auditing. Read more via Government faces fresh questions […]

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Bank of England’s Haldane endorses concerns on bogus bank accounting


The Bank of England’s Executive Director Financial Stability, Andy Haldane, has set out the case for banks to be held to different accounting standards because the existing rules have may allowed banks to overstate their profits and exacerbate their losses. This is something I covered in a private members’ bill last year, with particular reference to derivatives. As reported in the Guardian: Accounting rules for banks have bent with the financial stability wind in ways which have amplified investor and […]

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