BLN loses IFISA authorisation as administration concludes
Business Loan Network (BLN), the former peer-to-peer lending arm of alternative lender ThinCats, has had its Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) permissions removed.
According to the latest ISA manager update from HMRC, BLN has been removed from the list of approved ISA managers.
ThinCats was one of the first P2P lenders to offer the tax-wrapping investment product, with a soft launch in September 2018.
However, ThinCats went on to exit the retail P2P lending market in December 2019, and moved all of its P2P lender communications and services under the brand of its sister company BLN.
In April 2021, BLN went into administration, with administrators Kroll stating that “the directors of the company took this decision, having regard to the company’s present and likely future financial position, in order to protect the interests of its creditors as a whole.”
In May 2023, Kroll reported that the administration process is drawing to a close, with loan recoveries expected to total £17.9m.
When the administrators were appointed in April 2021, there were 163 outstanding loans to 73 borrowers, worth around £49.5m.
Kroll had initially estimated that approximately £22m would be returned to lenders, but this forecast was lowered “due to property values not reaching the anticipated levels.”
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