HM Treasury Allows Extended Repayment Delay Under COVID Loan Scheme
HM Treasury announced that borrowers that avail the government-backed Bounce Back Loan Scheme, or BBLS, to get through the COVID-19 crisis will now have the option to tailor repayments according to their individual circumstances. HM Treasury highlighted that the "Pay as You Grow" repayment flexibilities now include the option to delay all repayments for a further six months; this means that businesses can choose to make no payments on their loans until 18 months after they originally took the loans. The option to pause repayments will now be available to all from their first repayment, rather than after six repayments have been made.
Pay as You Grow will also enable borrowers to extend the length of their loans from six to ten years and make interest-only payments for six months, to tailor their repayment schedule to suit their individual circumstances. These Pay as You Grow options will be available to more than 1.4 million businesses that took nearly GBP 45 billion through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. This is in addition to the government covering the costs of interest for the first year of the loan. Lenders will proactively and directly inform the customers of Pay as You Grow, though borrowers should only expect correspondence three months before the first repayments are due. The government has made clear that lenders are expected to offer Pay as You Grow options to all borrowers under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. Moreover, the conduct rules of FCA require lenders to show due consideration and appropriate forbearance to borrowers in difficulty.
Related Link: News Release
Keywords: Europe, UK, Banking, COVID-19, BBLS, Bounce Back Loan Scheme, Credit Risk, Pay as You Grow, Loan Repayment, HM Treasury
Featured Experts

Victor Calanog, Ph.D.
Leading economist; commercial real estate; performance forecasting, econometric infrastructure; data modeling; credit risk modeling; portfolio assessment; custom commercial real estate analysis; thought leader.
Previous Article
ESRB Recommends Reciprocation of Certain Macro-Prudential MeasuresRelated Articles
US Agencies Issue Several Regulatory and Reporting Updates
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FED) adopted the final rule on Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act.
ECB Issues Multiple Reports and Regulatory Updates for Banks
The European Central Bank (ECB) published an updated list of supervised entities, a report on the supervision of less significant institutions (LSIs), a statement on macro-prudential policy.
HKMA Keeps List of D-SIBs Unchanged, Makes Other Announcements
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published a circular on the prudential treatment of crypto-asset exposures, an update on the status of transition to new interest rate benchmarks.
EU Issues FAQs on Taxonomy Regulation, Rules Under CRD, FICOD and SFDR
The European Commission (EC) adopted the standards addressing supervisory reporting of risk concentrations and intra-group transactions, benchmarking of internal approaches, and authorization of credit institutions.
CBIRC Revises Measures on Corporate Governance Supervision
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) issued rules to manage the risk of off-balance sheet business of commercial banks and rules on corporate governance of financial institutions.
HKMA Publications Address Sustainability Issues in Financial Sector
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) made announcements to address sustainability issues in the financial sector.
EBA Updates Address Basel and NPL Requirements for Banks
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published regulatory standards on identification of a group of connected clients (GCC) as well as updated the lists of identified financial conglomerates.
ESMA Publishes 2022 ESEF XBRL Taxonomy and Conformance Suite
The General Board of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), at its December meeting, issued an updated risk assessment via the quarterly risk dashboard and held discussions on key policy priorities to address the systemic risks in the European Union.
FCA Sets up ESG Committee, Imposes Penalties, and Issues Other Updates
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking comments, until December 21, 2022, on the draft guidance for firms to support existing mortgage borrowers.
FSB Reports Assess NBFI Sector and Progress on LIBOR Transition
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a report that assesses progress on the transition from the Interbank Offered Rates, or IBORs, to overnight risk-free rates as well as a report that assesses global trends in the non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI) sector.