GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES £75 MILLION OF FUNDING TO FLY HOME UK CITIZENS STRANDED ABROAD

The government has announced a partnership with the airlines industry to bring back hundreds of thousands of British nationals stranded abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic (BBC News). Under the agreement, the government is providing up to £75 million of funding to charter flights back from countries where commercial routes are no longer available. Passengers will be charged between £250 and £500 for tickets and will be given an emergency loan from the government if they can't afford the cost (The Times, £, p1).

Meanwhile, the Association of British Travel Agents has called for the current 14-day window for refunds for package holidays to be extended to four months to help prevent travel firms going bankrupt (Independent). The Daily Mail (p12) reports that those customers who have booked a flight only using a credit card may be entitled to a refund from their card issuer under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. More information on Section 75 and Chargeback is available on the UK Finance website here.

REGULATOR EXPECTED TO ADVISE AGAINST BANK DIVIDEND PAYMENTS

The Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) is expected to make an announcement in the coming days advising banks against making dividend payments, according to the Financial Times (£, p3). It follows a recommendation from the European Central Bank on Friday asking eurozone banks not to pay dividends or buy back shares during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A UK Finance spokesperson said: ?Given current uncertainties and the importance of finance providers being able to play their vital role in supporting the economy... finance providers are likely to want to discuss their dividend policy with their boards, shareholders and supervisors and review their 2020 distribution policy carefully. Any distributions, whether dividends or share buybacks, also need to reflect a prudent assessment of the current economic environment and prospects? (CityAM, online only).

Meanwhile, The Times (p41) reports that UK banks could face losses of over £15 billion on leveraged loans, according to estimates by the financial consultancy Fideres. The firm predicts direct losses worldwide from leveraged loans to exceed $100 billion, with a further $100 billion of losses from collateralised loan obligations, which it says would be two to three times worse than in the global financial crisis.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Katy Worobec, UK Finance's Managing Director of Economic Crime, was interviewed this morning on BBC Radio 5 live (at 7.20am) to discuss how criminals are sending scam text messages exploiting people's fears about the coronavirus outbreak. UK Finance is advising consumers to always follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign and stop and think before parting with their money or information in case it's a scam.

The coronavirus pandemic is expected to sharply slow growth in developing economies in East Asia and China, according to forecasts from the World Bank (Reuters).

The United Nations has called for a $2.5 trillion emergency package to help developing countries cope with the crippling impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their vulnerable economies (The Guardian p30).

High-pressure laminate (HPL) panels, a form of cladding material used in many tall buildings in the UK, has been deemed unsafe in a fire test carried out by the Metal Cladding and Roofing Manufacturers Association (MCRMA) (BBC News).

European People's Party, the leading centre-right political group in the European Parliament, has called on the UK to request an extension to its post-Brexit transition period to allow both sides to focus on the threat posed by the coronavirus (Financial Times, £, p3). 

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