Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that sustainability-linked loans provided by UK banks do not support companies associated with illegal deforestation or environmental harm overseas.

The Government is committed to maintaining a proportionate sustainable finance framework that supports market integrity and economic growth.

Decisions to provide banking services to individual businesses, including through sustainability-linked lending, are commercial decisions for providers. Firms have strict obligations to ensure the legitimacy of a business and protect against financial crime. The Government is committed to regulating business banking only where there is a clear case for doing so, in order to avoid higher costs for lenders that would ultimately flow through to businesses.

The Government is strengthening its approach to tackling deforestation in UK supply chains and announced in June 2026 that it intends to bring forward new regulations in this area. The Government will then review the regulatory framework for tackling deforestation-linked finance within nine months of those regulations being made.