Following a period of discussion between the Government and the major UK banks, known as 'Project Merlin', a statement was made by the banks on 9 February 2011.1 As part of that, the banks stated a capacity and willingness to lend £190 billion of new credit to business in 2011, with £76 billion of this lending capacity allocated to small and medium-sized enterprises. If demand exceeds this, the banks committed to lend more. As part of the accord, the banks agreed to make gross lending data available to the Bank of England for publication in aggregate on a quarterly basis. These data cover lending to all businesses ... (full story)