Exclusive: BoE plots action plan to steer lenders through 'no-deal' Brexit - source

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England has asked UK-based lenders to provide six-hourly health-checks on their balance sheets in the days after a possible 'no-deal' Brexit as it seeks to avert a shock squeeze in credit supply to the economy, a senior industry source said.

The checks would cover deposits, loans, currency and derivative exposures as well as any changes in the cost of funding and lending rates, the source told Reuters.

The central bank has been ramping up its contingency planning for a possible disorderly divorce from the European Union. Negotiations between London and Brussels have so far failed to produce a deal with barely six months to go before Brexit day on March 29.

The Bank of England's supervisory arm for the banking sector, the Prudential Regulation Authority, had no immediate comment.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney and Sinead Cruise, editing by Silvia Aloisi)