European Commission drafting new proposal to let states aid virus-hit companies - FT

(Reuters) - The European Commission is planning to let member states help companies directly impacted by the coronavirus outbreak through an injection of equity, the Financial Times reported https://www.ft.com/content/17596577-b3ca-4c5c-bd2c-da5d0d3042cd on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the proposal.

The new scheme would call on European Union member states to "provide further support in equity or hybrid capital instruments" to such businesses, according to the report.

The proposal, which the FT said was being drafted, would add to a temporary framework announced last month that allowed companies to receive state grants up to 500,000 euros ($539,900) or subsidised state guarantees on bank loans.

Under the new proposal, which may be announced later this week, the financial support would be conditional on companies meeting certain standards of good governance and giving commitments on how they would use the aid, the newspaper added.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)