EstateGuru prepares for UK launch while permissions are on “stand-by”
EstateGuru is finalising legal documentation ahead of a planned UK launch in January 2022, while its regulatory permissions are on “stand-by” as its UK expansion was frozen during Covid.
The platform has been closed to new regulated business since 6 August, under section 55L of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
However, a spokesperson from EstateGuru said that the platform has had its licences since October 2019, but it is in “stand-by mode” without active business operations in the UK.
A notice on the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) website says that the company “has requirements or restrictions placed on the financial services activities that it can operate”.
EstateGuru said once it is ready to launch with the team on the ground and adjusted legal documentation in full, the FCA will lift the sign from the registry and it can start to operate in the UK.
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“The UK FCA shared their concerns back in August 2021, that our P2P licence issued for EstateGuru Marketplace Ltd, is in a stand-by mode without active business operations in the UK,” the spokesperson said.
“They shared that for having adequate information in the registry, the FCA always recommends to add a sign to our licencing information that ‘No active business operations are been managed by EstateGuru Marketplace Ltd for the time being’. This reflects the existing situation, and no misunderstanding would be potentially caused for UK consumers.
“Once we have the local UK team on the ground in place and have adjusted our legal documentation with UK legislation in full, then the FCA would lift the sign from the registry and we can start to operate in the UK.
“We are recruiting the team at the moment with a UK headhunting partner, finalising the legal documentation and finishing the last technical details for the UK launch.
“Time wise, we are aiming to have the team ready to start in the UK by the end of 2021 and we are intending to start in January 2022.”
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“EstateGuru Marketplace Ltd has a P2P licence from 2019 already,” said Marek Pärtel, co-founder and chief executive of EstateGuru.
“Our expansion to the UK was freezed due to Covid-19 impacts.
“But now after the successful closure of the series A funding round for the EstateGuru Group, we have restarted the UK market entrance process.”
Last month, the platform said it was ready to restart its UK market entrance process after raising €5.8m from its series A funding round in September.
