Mintos stops working with UK litigation finance firm

Mintos has stopped working with UK-based litigation financier Fenchurch Legal due to the “potentially increased reputational risk” arising from the liquidation of Fenchurch’s former parent company.

The European peer-to-peer lending platform said it has asked Fenchurch to transfer all borrower repayments as soon as they are received, by August 2023 at the latest.

However, Mintos added that many Fenchurch loans “are taking longer than expected to settle as national lockdowns, Covid restrictions, and other imposed government regulations in the UK have had a significant impact on the legal cases that Fenchurch has been funding for the past 24 months.”

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“Before Covid-19, court cases took on average 9-12 months, while they now take 12-18 months (and some take even longer),” Mintos said, in a blog to investors.

“As a result, some investors might see that some loans are taking longer to be repaid.”

Fenchurch was added to the Mintos platform in July 2021, with target investor returns of 11 per cent.

Existing investors will be compensated for any investments that are paid back later than initially scheduled, with interest on delayed repayments increased to 1.4x the base interest rate.

Mintos added that Fenchurch is currently pursuing refinancing options. If the refinancing is successful, the litigation financier would be able to buy back outstanding investments and so investors might receive their money earlier.

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