Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to tackle potential fraud in relation to (a) the Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme and (b) Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

It is important that thorough due diligence is conducted by lenders as part of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS).

Individual lending decisions are fully delegated to the accredited lenders. As such, fraud checks are subject to each lender’s internal policy. The robustness of these policies is thoroughly tested before a lender can become accredited to the CBILS or the BBLS.

The banks and other financial institutions which have been accredited to lend under the CBILS or the BBLS are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and are required to comply with a number of regulations, including anti-money laundering and ‘know your customer’ rules, designed to combat fraud and other forms of financial crime. The majority of lenders also subscribe to the voluntary Standards of Lending Practice overseen by the independent Lending Standards Board.