Royal Bank of Scotland Offers GBP2 Billion Funding Pot for Brexit-Hit Businesses

By Adam Clark

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS.LN) said Tuesday that it will set aside 2.0 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) in funding for small and medium-sized businesses to support them through Brexit.

The money will be loaned to companies which are dealing with threats to their supply chains and financial risk-management amid the U.K.'s exit from the European Union.

RBS's NatWest bank said the funding is available to all current and prospective customers that meet its eligibility criteria, but it has identified nearly 2,000 of its borrowers that it believes could benefit, and will be contacting them in the coming weeks.

RBS said the funds are on top of the GBP1.0 billion in growth funding for SMEs that it announced in May, of which nearly GBP900 million has been approved for investment.

"The on-going Brexit process will also require businesses to think strategically and tactically about how to navigate what is still an uncertain period ahead. We are committed to helping UK businesses access the right financing products so they can meet their short and longer term trade and working capital needs--whatever the outcome of the Brexit process," Alison Rose, chief executive of commercial and private banking at NatWest, said.

The move comes just weeks after RBS Chief Executive Ross McEwan said a "no-deal" Brexit could tip the U.K into a recession and that the bank was becoming more careful about lending in the retail and construction sectors as uncertainty grips the British economy.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 23, 2018 05:40 ET (09:40 GMT)

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