August is a usually one of the quitter months in the business calendar, however this year there have been a few things happening in the UK asset finance industry you may not be aware of.
Far from taking it easy over the holidays industry regulators have been busy finalising reports and consultations which will have implications for the asset finance industry.
One important announcement came from the Bank of England which announced that it would introduce a new scheme to replace Funding for Lending. The new scheme called Term Funding Scheme will involve lending money to banks on the understanding that banks will continue to up their lending to businesses and households.
Post-Brexit, the economy needs all the help it can get to try and stave off a slide into recession as uncertainty over the UK’s trade relationship with Europe continues. While the fuss over Brexit seemed to have died down a little in August as everyone waits to see what the outcome will be, this may well be the calm before a storm that is likely to be felt in all areas of the economy.
One other piece of news was a HMRC proposal to scrap certain salary sacrifice tax benefits which includes the possibility that car salary sacrifice benefits may be withdrawn.
Benefits gained from pension saving, childcare and the Cycle to Work scheme will remain eligible under the new proposals.