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Recovery Loan Scheme Invoice Finance Facility

The RLS Invoice Finance Scheme is now closed to new applications.

The Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) Invoice Finance Facility is a Government backed initiative designed to enable our clients’ businesses to survive, recover and grow.

The Recovery Loan Scheme is now closed to new applications.

To benefit from the scheme, you must have made a successful application and have also received a Facility Offer Letter from HSBC UK Bank plc on or before 30th June 2024.

At a glance

Available for clients of HSBC Invoice Finance (UK) Ltd with a viable funding proposal and looking for financial support through the short-medium term.
Available to support invoice finance funding needs of between £30,000 and £2,000,000.*
Backed by a Government guarantee provided to us, covering 70 per cent of the RLS Invoice Finance Facility funding made available to clients.
No fees payable by you for the Government guarantee and no arrangement fee, or repayment fee should you wish to repay the facility early.

Key benefits

Enhanced levels of invoice finance funding, with prepayment of up to 100% of invoice values notified to us.

When you draw funding from an RLS Invoice Finance Facility, the discounting charges you pay take account of the effect of the Government guarantee.

Facility may be used where we would not have been prepared to offer an Invoice Finance facility for the same amount on similar terms, or we would only have been able to offer it at a higher price.

The new iteration of the RLS Invoice Finance Facility runs for a fixed term of 36 months. After 26 months we’ll review the facility with you and agree how this will change over the remainder of its term.

Funding to support your business to survive, recover and grow.

Businesses that have received support under the previous Government COVID19 guaranteed loan schemes are still eligible to access finance under this scheme, subject to eligibility and limitations.

* Any UK business not subject to the Northern Ireland Protocol can apply for a RLS Phase 3 loan of between £30,000 and £2,000,000 subject to (i) eligibility and viability assessments and (ii) previous relevant subsidy amounts received by you or any member of your group.

Any UK business that is subject to the Northern Ireland Protocol can apply for an RLS Phase 3 loan between £30,000 and £1,000,000 subject to (i) eligibility and viability assessments and (ii) previous relevant subsidy amounts received by you or any member of your group and (iii) specific sector sub-limits as mentioned further in the Eligibility section below.

Quick Check RLS Invoice Finance Facility Eligibility Criteria

An RLS Invoice Finance Facility may be available to you, if you:

Are (or become) an HSBC Invoice Finance (UK) Ltd client, operating in the UK and generating 50% or more of your business turnover from trading activity in the UK.¹
Operate in a sector that is eligible for an RLS Invoice Finance facility.²
Have a viable funding proposal and are an eligible applicant.
Are not a business in difficulty³. Please refer to the Businesses in Difficulty section for further information.
Eligibility is also subject to you not having breached the terms of any loans made available under the existing Government COVID19 guaranteed loan schemes, or the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme.
Businesses that have taken out a CBILS, CLBILS, BBLS or previous RLS facilities are able to access the RLS Invoice Finance Facility although the amount they have borrowed under a previous scheme may in certain circumstances limit the amount they may borrow under RLS Invoice Finance.

¹ This eligibility criterion does not apply to applicants which are registered charities or further education colleges.

² The following sectors and activities are excluded from RLS: Deposit taking Banks and EEA Banks; Building Societies, Insurers (other than insurance brokers), Public sector organisations, State funded primary or secondary schools.

³ As per scheme rules, your business will be a business in difficulty if:

you hold a credit rating and have a long-term issuer or debt rating below Credit Quality Step 5 from a recognised rating agency; or
you do not hold such a rating and you would be considered by us to be: (1) of poor credit standing; or (2) subject to very high credit risk; or
you are subject to relevant insolvency proceedings.

Important Information

You are liable for 100% of the whole facility, and HSBC Invoice Finance (UK) Ltd will always seek to recover the outstanding balance from you and the proceeds of any security you, or any security provider on your behalf, has given for the facility.¹
You are responsible for ensuring that any subsidy we provide you in connection with a RLS Invoice Finance Facility will not exceed any subsidy threshold applicable to your business.²
All facilities are subject to status and credit approval. Terms and Conditions and additional product eligibility criteria apply.
We’ll review security requirements on an individual basis. If security (including a personal guarantee) is deemed appropriate we will discuss and agree requirements with you as part of the credit approval process.³
The guarantee that we receive from the UK Government under the RLS Invoice Finance Facility may give rise to a cost benefit to us. If there is a cost benefit, we will pass this on to you by adjusting the discounting margin you pay.

¹ If HSBC Invoice Finance (UK) Ltd cannot recover all funds, the Government provides a partial guarantee for the shortfall.

² The assistance provided to you through the Facility, like many Government-backed business support schemes, is regarded as a subsidy and is deemed to benefit you as it has enabled us to provide you with a facility which may not have otherwise been possible.

³ If you default on your facility, we will look to realise all other available collateral provided to support your facility before we make a demand on any personal guarantee. Only after this will we look to realise the government guarantee.

Business in difficulty

What type of businesses will be captured by the “business in difficulty” definition?

A business will be considered a business in difficulty if it meets one or more of the following features:
1. if it holds a credit rating, it has a long-term issuer or debt rating below Credit Quality Step 5 from a recognised rating agency; or
2. if the applicant does not hold such a rating, an applicant, is considered by us to be: of poor credit standing; or subject to very high credit risk; or the applicant is subject to Relevant Insolvency Proceedings.
For the purposes of Relevant Insolvency Proceedings this means the following UK proceedings:
1. winding-up by or subject to the supervision of the court;
2. creditors' voluntary winding-up (with confirmation by the court);
3. administration, including appointments made by filing prescribed documents with the court;
4. voluntary arrangements under insolvency legislation; and
5. bankruptcy or sequestration.
The ‘voluntary arrangements’ listed above include company voluntary arrangements and individual voluntary arrangements. Receiverships, members' voluntary liquidations, restructuring plans under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 and schemes of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 are not Relevant Insolvency Proceedings.