HSBC pledges to increase support to SMEs - 27/01/2012

HSBC has revealed it is set to increase its commitment to small to medium-sized enterprises in 2012, taking measures such as by lending billions of pounds to firms of this type.

Jacques-Emmanuel Blanchet, head of commercial banking UK at HSBC, stated the Project Merlin agreement between the banks and the coalition government helped to "focus" lending to companies.

"We continued to enhance our support, launching new innovative products and holding hundreds of events across the UK and the world, to encourage UK businesses to share their knowledge and develop long term relationships internationally," he said.

Mr Blanchet added HSBC is particularly well placed to help firms looking to expand their export operations all over the world.

It was recently revealed by figures from the Bank of England that business lending fell during October, despite the Project Merlin agreement with the UK's major banks.

The drop was at an annualised rate of 4.6 per cent and lending to firms was down by £1.6 billion in total during the month, reported the Financial Times.

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Posted by Michael Beam 

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