Our approach to regulating firms in relation to the Government’s RLS.
The RLS was launched by the government-owned British Business Bank on 6 April 2021 to provide financial support to UK businesses following the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
While the RLS has different terms and eligibility criteria, it has replaced the Government’s Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)[1], which have now closed to new applications.
More information on eligibility and the nature of the RLS can be found on the British Business Bank website.
Our role as the regulator
Most of the lending available as part of the RLS won’t be a regulated activity. Therefore, most lending applications will be outside our regulatory perimeter set by Parliament.
Our rules will apply as usual to regulated lending under the scheme, in this case regulated asset finance. This includes our rules on creditworthiness assessments (CONC 5.2A).
The relevant requirements under the Money Laundering Regulations will continue to apply and lenders should undertake appropriate anti-money laundering and fraud checks on RLS applications.