![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Bank-of-England.jpg\")
<\/a>As part of their activities to combat the economic fallout of Covid-19, the Bank of England has created a new scheme called the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF<\/a><\/strong><\/span>),\u00a0to specifically support the UK\u2019s biggest companies impacted by the crisis.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Bank of England\u00a0specifically said<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0companies receiving or eligible for funds \u201cwill not be made public<\/em>\u201d and businesses are being made to sign confidentiality agreements. Campaign Group Positive Money reports that \u2013 \u201cBy the first week of April they had handed out more than \u00a311 billion<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in bailouts with another \u00a330 billion agreed \u2013 almost all of it hidden from public view. We\u2019ve only learnt about a handful of company bailouts (such as EasyJet, Greggs, Redrow Homes and First Group) backhandedly through the press<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. And, to access the scheme, companies must be deemed to make a material contribution to the UK economy and have an investment-grade or sound long-term rating from a big credit rating agency \u2013 making the CCFF a highly exclusive facility.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n If a company meets these requirements, the Bank then purchases an amount of short-term debt from the company with brand new money it creates entirely for this purpose. This is public money pure and simple. To be clear, we are not publishing this because the CCFF is somehow wrong \u2013 only that the general public should know exactly what taxpayers are on the hook for and to whom.<\/span><\/p>\n During this time of crisis, the Bank of England must lift its veil of secrecy and make all it\u2019s business bailouts public now. It is only right and proper that any company that has used sophisticated and \u2018creative\u2019 accountancy methods and devices to offshore profits be excluded from any bailout, no matter what the consequence.<\/span><\/p>\n Source Bank of England<\/p><\/div>\n As at last week, the Bank of England have issued \u00a351billion drawing capacity to 105 businesses. Of this 52 have received taxpayer support and 53 are soon to get their bailout. A further 104 businesses have applied in addition and one could assume from that, that well over \u00a3100bn would have been given the businesses for bailouts \u2013 all in total secrecy by the end of May.<\/span><\/p>\n Should we be suspicious? Yes. It is another scandal but also a shameful fact that almost three-quarters of companies who have been given major government contracts have operations based via tax havens. So big are these operations they account for something like 20 per cent of total government procurement spending and as they are secretive operations by the nature of their tax haven status, one wonders who exactly is profiting from them.<\/span><\/p>\n In the meantime, as I\u2019m sure many readers are aware, Tesco has paid out \u00a3900 million in dividends to investors despite securing a \u00a3585 million tax break from the Government. Irrespective of the arguments here, Tesco, who by their own admission, has a strong balance sheet, has taken nearly \u00a3600m from the taxpayer in a desperate moment to the benefit of its shareholders. Tesco biggest shareholders<\/strong><\/span><\/a> are the American giant Blackrock with Norges Bank and Schroders Bank close behind.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n