Assetz boss: Uninvested ‘nosy parkers’ could derail recovery process
ASSETZ Capital chief executive Stuart Law (pictured) has said there is “no benefit” to allowing people who are not invested in loans to have access to confidential data, warning that it could harm investors and borrowers.
Investors on the P2P Independent Forum recently noted that the peer-to-peer lending platform had started locking certain information tabs on its website relating to “suspended” loans, so that only people participating in that loan can access the information.
Assetz Capital will suspend trading in a loan if it is over 60 days past its expiry date and has not yet been fully repaid, or loan repayments are more than 60 days overdue or greater than two payments in arrears.
Law told Peer2Peer Finance News that the platform has always had controls around privacy but said “people have noticed it now because it’s a little tighter”.
Read more: P2P transparency under threat after investors flout privacy agreements
“There is no benefit to be had for a nosy parker that’s not invested in the loan to have access to confidential data,” he said.
There is also the risk that people looking to cause harm to the borrower could log in to disrupt the recovery process, he added.
“Any investor can see everything but if you’re not an investor it’s not appropriate to see information on a defaulted loan as it can be detrimental,” he said.
Read more: Are P2P investors better off selling bad loans or relying on recovery?
Law said that investors using the platform’s auto-invest product would still know which loans they had participated in and would continue to have access to data if trading on one of those loans were suspended.
In an emailed statement, Law said: “There has been no change to transparency for people with investments in loans, but those who aren’t invested won’t be able to see confidential data and won’t be able to buy those loans either. Our borrowers have rights that we must respect.”
Maintaining high levels of transparency can be challenging for P2P lenders when it comes to bad loans, as the public disclosure of confidential information can be detrimental to the recovery process. Several industry figures have warned that some investors are sharing too much information and this could potentially lead to the platforms scaling back their updates.
Read more: P2P lenders face tough credit conditions as insolvencies hit record highs
