The failure to name the companies that received state-backed loans totalling £80bn during the Covid pandemic has put the UK’s reputation as a trusted place to do business at risk, a tribunal has heard.
The warnings by anti-corruption campaigners and a leading fraud expert were made on the first day of a three-day tribunal challenging the state-owned British Business Bank (BBB) and the information commissioner over their decision to keep the names of loan recipients under wraps.
