Swaper sets up new subsidiary for business loan launch
Peer-to-peer lending platform Swaper has set up a new company and is set to launch a business loan product, as it prepares for regulations in Poland to take effect in the new year.
From 1 January 2024, Polish lenders will be prohibited from borrowing funds from investors through online platforms. This will significantly impact P2P lending marketplaces that list loans from Poland-based loan originators.
The introduction of the new law has resulted in a number of platforms, such as PeerBerry, pulling out of Poland.
Read more: P2P lenders leave Poland ahead of new rules
In response, Swaper, which provides investors access to loan markets in Central and Eastern Europe, has registered a new subsidiary SW Finance, which has obtained the required licensing from The Financial Intelligence Unit Estonia.
SW Finance will provide financing for the lending operations of Wandoo Finance Group, a Latvia-based fintech company. Through the cooperation of the two companies, Swaper Platform will launch business loans with a 14 per cent interest rate. The loan term will be 30 days and if the borrower is 60 says late in repaying the loan, investors’ funds and interest earned will be repaid.
Swaper said the business loans, which will be managed by SW Finance, have been assessed by external legal and tax advisers in Poland and Estonia to ensure they comply with new requirements.
In addition, the platform is working with Wandoo Finance Group to onboard a loan originator from Romania.
“Until now, loans from Romania could not be offered on the platform due to legal considerations, which necessitated the establishment of SW Finance as a licensed entity. Obtaining the license for SW Finance was not only essential for starting to offer business loans, and onboarding the Romanian loan originator but also lays the groundwork for the onboarding of new loan originators in the future,” Swaper noted in a statement.
“These efforts are geared towards enhancing the loan supply on our platform and minimizing cash drag for the benefit of all our users.”
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