35 UK lenders sign up to the FLS

There are now 35 lenders participating in the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) covering just over 80% of the stock of lending to the real economy.  Of the 35 lenders, 22 are mutual, according to the Building Societies Association. In the quarter ending 30 September 2012, net lending by Funding for Lending Scheme participants was +£0.5bn and total FLS drawdowns from the Bank were £4.4bn. Paul Fisher, Executive Director for Markets at the Bank of England, has said of the FLS: “I am confident that the FLS will help the supply of credit. The incentives in the scheme are for banks and building societies to cut lending rates and hence lend more to get the cheapest funding.  Since the scheme was announced we have seen widespread falls in funding costs across different sources and an equally wide variety of lending rate reductions.” November 7, 2012