Speedier loans draw small UK firms to online financing - report

By Kylie MacLellan

LONDON (Reuters) - Small British businesses have turned to seeking funding from members of the public online because of the slow speed at which banks process loan applications, a report showed on Friday.

Peer-to-peer lending, which allows small investors to earn interest from loaning money to individuals or businesses, is one of several alternative sources of finance that have grown up as banks ration credit in response to tougher capital rules and the economic slowdown.

This week the British government gave banks greater incentives to lend to small firms in a bid to inject new life into the country's stagnant economy.

The report, produced by innovation charity Nesta using data from Britain's largest peer-to-peer business lending website Funding Circle, found the length of time it takes to secure a bank loan, rather than the availability of loans, was the most common reason given by firms for choosing the online route.

More than 75 percent of the 89 companies surveyed also said they would go to Funding Circle first for future funding.

"Coupled with the recession, it's the explosion of social media and the use of (the) Internet that has made it easier and cheaper to connect those who want to invest with the businesses that need finance," said Stian Westlake, executive director of policy and research at Nesta.

British and U.S. authorities are working out how best to regulate the wider crowd funding industry, which also includes sites that enable individuals to buy small equity stakes in companies or fund creative projects in return for non-financial rewards, such as a copy of an album.

Crowd funding websites helped companies and individuals worldwide raise $2.7 billion (1.7 billion pounds) from members of the public in 2012, an 81 percent increase on the previous year, data showed earlier this month.

Regulators are keen to make sure investors are aware of the risks and ensure the sites vet firms adequately to avoid scams.

Nesta said 88 percent of the 630 lenders surveyed had other investments such as stocks or bonds, while 38 percent had more than 10 years experience working with small- and medium-sized firms.

On average, Funding Circle lenders had invested a total of 7,983 pounds and 75 percent said they expected to increase the amount of money they put in over the coming year.

(Editing by David Holmes)

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Small bomb explodes at Greek courier firm in Athens

ATHENS (Reuters) - A small makeshift bomb exploded at a Greek courier company in Athens on Sunday, smashing windows but causing no injuries, a Reuters witness and police officials said.

The explosion damaged some vehicles parked outside the local firm and caused minor damage to several neighboring buildings. Police officials said the bomb consisted of at least five gas canisters and some explosive material.

Gas canister attacks against businesses and police are frequent in Greece. Small bomb attacks against politicians have risen since the country adopted harsh and deeply unpopular austerity measures under the terms of two successive bailouts by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

In January, two Greek anarchist groups claimed responsibility for an explosion at an Athens shopping center that fuelled fears of rising political violence.

That incident followed a series of small homemade bomb attacks on journalists and political figures.

Less than a week before the mall blast, unknown gunmen fired shots at the Athens offices of the New Democracy party, which heads the governing coalition. There were no injuries and no claim of responsibility for the attack.

(Reporting by Yannis Behrakis; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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LA to create small parks to force sex offenders from neighborhoods

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The city of Los Angeles, seeking to force registered sex offenders out of neighborhoods where they have clustered in large numbers, is building tiny green spaces to exploit a state law banning offenders from living near parks, officials said on Friday.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, whose district includes a pair of neighborhoods called Harbor Gateway and Wilmington where the parks will be built, said the large population of sex offenders in his district had created unease among residents.

"We shouldn't have to be the capital of sex offender registrants in the Harbor Gateway and Wilmington communities," Buscaino said. "We want to prevent incidence and fear of crime in the city of Los Angeles and this is one way of doing that."

The move represents a novel use of California's so-called Jessica's Law, which requires sex offenders released from prison on parole to live more than 2,000 feet from schools or parks. Several other states, including Texas, Kentucky, Florida and Georgia have similar measures.

The idea for the creative use of the law originated from the Los Angeles Police Department, which had been monitoring more than 80 sex offenders living near the site of one of the three planned parks in Harbor Gateway, a narrow strip of land that connects the Port of Los Angeles to the rest of the city.

The two other parks are being planned for nearby Wilmington, a largely industrial district.

By building parks, city officials say they are creating zones where sex offenders cannot legally live.

The city of Long Beach, which borders Buscaino's district to the south, has more restrictive rules governing where sex offenders can live. Long Beach, in addition to schools and parks, keeps the offenders away from places where children spend time, such as after-school program centers.

Buscaino said he asked the Los Angeles City Attorney's office to craft a similar ordinance so sex offenders will not see his district as a relative refuge.

Civil libertarians have criticized restrictions on where sex offenders can live. They argue the laws do not cut down on sexual abuse crimes and instead give the false impression most child molestations are committed by strangers, when a majority are perpetrated by relatives and acquaintances.

Attorney Janice Bellucci, who heads the non-profit California Reform Sex Offender Laws, said Los Angeles' decision to build parks with the intent to banish sex offenders sets a dangerous precedent.

"I don't think it's going to be effective and I'm afraid others are going to repeat it," she said. "We're going to do what we need to do to stop it, including filing a lawsuit."

A two-and-a-half-year study led by professors at Arizona State University and published last year in the journal, Cityscape, found that 65 percent of the registered sex offenders the researchers tracked changed addresses during the course of the survey, with one-third moving into off-limit areas.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis, Cynthia Johnston and Eric Walsh)

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