Current Work

Regulating in an AI-Native Society

This briefing takes a practical look at one aspect of Open Data principles for a sample of 12 UK economic and social regulators, to compare how open they are to support AI-based queries by AI-native stakeholders. This is desktop analysis using free-tier AI agents places them in 4 tiers. The briefing contains a case study for one regulator, CQC, to highlight the important contrast between data privacy and open data. The companion data explorer, built entirely from CQC's own public data, is a parliamentary constituency-based search for CQC assessments.

This analysis is produced by SDWH Limited for information purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment or regulatory advice and should not be relied upon as such. SDWH Limited is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Why Wait? Parliamentary accountability horizon scanner

Parliament rose for summer recess on 16 July 2026 and a new Prime Minister has entered No10 Downing Street, providing the ideal opportunity to look forward to what the accountability cycle looks like following its return on 1 September 2026. This horizon scanner profiles the 23 NAO Work in Progress notices due to report in autumn 2026, covering the departments and topics that will shape the next wave of Public Accounts Committee scrutiny. Each entry sets out the audit's scope and framing, links to related prior reports and recommendations, and, where available, an estimate of the taxpayer value at stake, filterable by review type and department.

This analysis is produced by SDWH Limited for information purposes only, drawing on published National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee sources. It does not constitute financial, investment or regulatory advice and should not be relied upon as such.

Financing for SMEs: what’s next for nations, regions and communities?

What combination of public financial management, capital market reform, data and market infrastructure investment would most efficiently expand lending to underserved SMEs? This briefing maps the Growth Guarantee Scheme's two categories of non-bank lenders (Regional Investment Funds and Community Development Financial Institutions), the £2bn expansion of the Nations and Regions Investment Funds, the funding model behind community lending to SMEs, and the market infrastructure (open finance, credit data sharing) that will shape whether government can meet its £1bn ambition for community lending.

1. The two categories of non-bank lender inside the Growth Guarantee Scheme. Regional Investment Funds and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) account for £308m of guaranteed loans, £1 in every £12 of GGS facilities, and are growing far faster than the banking sector.
2. Who really manages the Regional Investment Funds. A fund-by-fund breakdown of the Northern Powerhouse, Midlands Engine, Greater London, Finance Yorkshire, Finance East and North East funds, tracing risk capital back to the Development Bank of Wales, CDFIs and private fund managers.
3. The £2bn second phase of the Nations and Regions Investment Funds. Fund sizes, fair value movements and the four newly-procured fund managers for the South East and East of England funds.
4. How CDFIs actually fund themselves. Dormant assets, Better Society Capital, the Community Investment Enterprise Fund, the Community ENABLE Facility, commercial bank lending and Community Investment Tax Relief, and why CDFIs hold a cash buffer of roughly 60p for every £1 lent.
5. What it would take to free up £1bn for community lending. A discussion of seven possible funding mechanisms, assessed for scale, deliverability and reliance on private versus taxpayer capital.
6. The data and market infrastructure question. The FCA's Open Finance roadmap, the Commercial Credit Data Sharing regime and Bank Referral Scheme reform, and the digital divide this could open between banks and alternative lenders.

This analysis is produced by SDWH Limited for information purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment or regulatory advice and should not be relied upon as such. SDWH Limited is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Readers should obtain independent professional advice before taking any decision based on this material.

Innovation in government loan guarantees

A detailed side-by-side comparison of government loan guarantee schemes in the UK and US. Provides extensive analysis of pricing, risk and trading volumes in secondary markets and securitisations. Looks at how the UK government may be able to close the annual ~£1.1bn gap in the GDP-intensity of government guaranteed lending to SMEs relative to the US. Considers how a £12.5bn pool of institutional capital looking for productive UK assets interacts with the fragmented government guarantees programme of £6bn and a £347bn UK securitisation market in which SME lending barely registers. Indicates that there is an opportunity for innovation to establish a major UK institutional asset class that will attract finance needed to deliver growth agendas including the IT hardware plan and small business strategy. Provides a roadmap for feasibility and stakeholder engagement.

1. The UK's guarantee intensity gap. The UK runs government-guaranteed business lending at 0.063% of GDP; the US runs at 0.128%. The government’s plan for small business announced increases in the use of guarantees which, if fully utilised, would narrow this gap.
2. The lenders, arrangers, and institutional investors already active in this space. 85 distinct lending institutions have been identified across the three UK schemes; the briefing maps their concentration and cross-scheme participation.
3. The interest rates paid by borrowers and the spread absorbed by intermediation. The briefing analyses the SBA's published interest rate caps and the implied margin between borrower cost and investor yield, illustrating how secondary market liquidity narrows that spread over time.
4. The default and recovery history that underpins investor confidence. Using twelve annual cohorts of a leading SME lender between 2014 and 2025, the briefing sets out cumulative default rates and recovery rates.
5. The cost of capital when business loans reach the capital markets. Based on Funding Circle's tenth securitisation (SBOLT 2026-1, priced May 2026), the briefing sets out the credit ratings, tranche structure, and spreads achieved: senior notes rated A by Fitch at approximately 5.2% all-in, illustrating the yield compression a packaging structure achieves relative to direct lending rates.
6. The scale and mechanics of a working secondary market. The US Small Business Administration's 7(a) programme has operated a secondary market for government loan guarantees for 35 years with $10–12bn in annual trading volume, premiums consistently at 110–114 cents on the dollar, and transaction counts doubling to 26,000 per year over 2021–25.
7. What the UK could learn from the US. How the US has combined rate caps for borrowers, reduced personal guarantee dependency, higher guarantee fee income, and higher intensity of guarantees to GDP, through a combination of standardisation and transparency.
8. Why guaranteed loans are currently excluded from securitisation and what it would take to change that. The GGS guarantee is non-transferable and personal to the accredited lender. The FCA's 2026 consultation paper proposes significant simplification, recognising that current rules are ill-suited to new asset classes. Government and regulator intentions to overhaul SME data are in consultation stage.

This analysis is produced by SDWH Limited for information purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment or regulatory advice and should not be relied upon as such. SDWH Limited is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Readers should obtain independent professional advice before taking any decision based on this material.