COVID SME loans from Thu 26.03.2020, 08:00h, apply
The approval process for COVID-19 SME bridging loans as enacted in the COVID-19 Solidarity Guarantee Emergency Ordinance.
The new COVID 19 Solidarity Guarantee Ordinance has just been published as another Corona Emergency Ordinance by the Federal Council, together with the accompanying explanatory notes and media release. The forms for COVID bridging loans for SMEs will be available online HERE from Thursday, 26.03.2020, 08:00h. The list of participating banks has already been published. Some of the banks have already launched their own websites.
We assume that very many companies will want to access these forms at the beginning. You have until the end of July 2020 to apply for Facility 1, which provides up to CHF 500,000 in a simple and unbureaucratic way. However, one can apply for 10% of the turnover in this way. The limit or the loan can be amortised in 60 months.
"The instrument is better than nothing. However, the turnover-based credit volume favors low-margin companies with high turnovers (e.g. pure intermediaries) too pronouncedly."
Whether this instrument (which builds on the guarantee cooperatives) really satisfies the needs of SMEs can be left open at the moment, it is better than nothing at the moment. Further indebtedness of SMEs can certainly not be the goal; this would lead to a passing on of the economic damage to SMEs. Also, basing the tax on turnover is a questionable criterion that will raise many questions and above all favours high-turnover companies with thin margins (high-volume trading companies, etc.), but tends to leave behind the classic direct-supplying SMEs with strong margins. We will inform you later with more details.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Balthasar Wicki and Hans Kuhn.