The British Business Bank has appointed a board-level investment banker and fintech specialist Jenny Knott as non-executive director, effective immediately. Knott (pictured), who has over 30 years’ experience in banking and corporate finance, is co-founder of FinTech Strategic Advisors, and assists clients with their fintech investment and adoption strategies. She has served as chief executive, […]
Companies across the UK are facing losses of £1.86bn from invoices going unpaid despite the government’s Covid-19 support, an insolvency firm has revealed. Red Flag Alert, which help businesses protect their company from financial risk, has released data showing businesses are set to write off £20m more in bad debt this year compared with 2019. […]
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has promoted Sheldon Mills to the newly created role of executive director, consumers and competition. The post was created last month when the regulator announced it will form a new, single division led by two executive directors. One will be focused on the FCA’s consumer protection and competition objectives, the other […]
The City regulator has issued ‘Three Wise Warnings’ for consumers to look out for to prevent loan fee fraud this Christmas. Loan fee fraud is when consumers are asked to pay an upfront fee for a loan or credit that they then never receive. According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) it was the third […]
LendInvest reported a 244 per cent year-on-year rise in core earnings in its latest half-year results, during what its chief executive described as a “uniquely challenging year”. The specialist mortgage lender reported core earnings of £6.2m in the six months to 30 September 2020, while gross profits rose by 22 per cent to £17.6m. Gross revenue […]
Ablrate has become an associated partner of Reading Football Club. The peer-to-peer business lending platform now has LED adverts of its logo on two sides of the club’s ground, the Madejski Stadium. Reading FC is Ablrate’s local football club and hosts networking events for local small businesses, which the platform can now attend. Last Saturday […]
MoneyThing is considering appointing administrators to continue the platform’s wind-down. The peer-to-peer business lender announced last year that it would close, blaming lower investor confidence and fierce competition in the lower-risk business loans market. It had been focusing on getting its loanbook repaid but has been in legal dispute with one borrower over whether it […]
The government has launched a global partnerships programme – Leading Edge – to help international financial institutions in priority markets access the best British fintech solutions. The department for international trade’s programme, which will begin in Singapore and the US, is designed to promote the adoption of fintech, particularly of UK-grown solutions in areas such […]
Business finance platform Swoop has hired former LendInvest sales director Ian Boden (pictured) to help launch its new commercial mortgage offering. Boden will work within Swoop’s team of advisers as a commercial mortgage consultant, helping the platform to build its property business. He was previously sales director at property lender LendInvest, where he led the […]
MarketFinance has secured new institutional investment that will help it fund loans under the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) on its platform. The alternative invoice finance and business lender said it was connected to institutional investors through debt marketplace CrossLend. “We are grateful to all our investors who have helped us lend £2bn over […]
Assetz Capital has said it has “significant coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) funding” to support businesses with the emergency loans up to March 2021. The peer-to-peer business lender, which was accredited for CBILS in May, has revealed in its annual accounts for the 12 months to 31 March 2020 how it has navigated the […]
LendingCrowd has paused new retail deposits and registrations on the platform as it focuses on lending under the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS). The peer-to-peer lending platform has only been conducting CBILS lending, which can be funded by institutional investors only. LendingCrowd said it expects this to continue for the foreseeable future, so it […]
Five more lenders have signed the Fintech Pledge, a Treasury-backed initiative to set principles on collaboration with fintechs that will boost growth in the fintech sector. Atom Bank, Co-operative Bank, Nationwide Building Society, TSB, and Virgin Money have all signed the pledge that commits banks to implement the principles. These include the requirement for banks […]
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed its ban on mini-bond marketing, almost a year after the City regulator introduced a temporary ban on speculative illiquid securities. The ban will come into effect on 1 January 2021, and will cover speculative mini bonds as well as listed bonds which have similar features. “We’ve today confirmed […]
Alternative investment manager Pollen Street Capital (PSC) has partnered with lender Downing’s property finance division to fund residential development finance and bridging deals for developers. PSC, which also manages the Honeycomb investment trust, has acquired around £30m of Downing’s existing loanbook and is providing a funding line for future developments. “We are delighted to announce this […]