Together these banks account for around 73% of the stock of lending to UK households and corporates. I should also note that a significant number of other institutions are close to signing up too and we will update this table in due course. In addition, we will publish the first set of drawdown data in December, although you will have seen that one bank has already announced that it has drawn £ and plans to draw more. That said, it will probably take some time for banks to review fully their lending plans, and it is likely that drawings from the FLS will be spread out over the full window to end-2013.
BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  The FLS has been implemented in large part because of the developments in financial markets I have described: an example of the important and powerful linkages between the real economy and the financial sector. The continued uncertainties about the future of the Eurozone and about the European banking system meant that during the past two years bank funding markets have had periodic bouts of closure. And when open, spreads of bank debt over risk-free rates have remained elevated. A number of large UK banks still rely on wholesale markets for funding at the margin and higher wholesale funding costs have spilled over into other funding markets – driving up retail deposit rates for example. Prior to the announcement of the FLS, banks were passing on their elevated funding costs to their lending rates. Over the 12 months to mid-2012, we saw lending rates to businesses and for mortgages rising (Chart 5). Furthermore, the Bank of England’s 2012 Q2 Credit Conditions Survey of UK banks suggested that household secured and corporate lending rates were expected to rise further. Chart 5  Chart 6  Change in bank funding and mortgage rates between 31 July 2011 and 31 May 2012  Annual lending growth to households and companies(a)  Per cent  16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 -2  2004  2006  2008  2010  2012  (a) Based on scheme definition.