Companies: Coronavirus

(asked on 9th July 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the timescale is for loans provided to companies bailed out through Project Birch to be converted into shares; and what conditions the Government plans to attach to such conversions into shares.


Answered by
Kemi Badenoch Portrait
Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
This question was answered on 17th July 2020

As part of its normal operations the government has always considered providing support to strategically important companies that can reasonably be expected to have a long-term viable future, and whose failure or distress could cause disproportionate harm to the UK economy or society. Companies must have exhausted all other options before being considered, and any support given is on terms that protect the taxpayer, with existing lenders and shareholders expected to contribute to, and share in, the financial burden.

Reticulating Splines