Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Debt purchaser, Lowell has announced the appointment of John Pears, to the new role of UK Managing Director. Pears will join the business later this year, subject to formal approval from the Financial Conduct Authority. Pears will join Lowell’s UK and Group Executive teams and report to Group CEO, James Cornell. He will take charge…
Read morePeter Wallwork, Chief Executive of the Credit Services Association (CSA) has again called for the adoption of a Code of Practice as the de facto best practice ‘standard’ across all sectors and organisations collecting consumer debts. Whereas agencies collecting financial services debts are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and adhere to the CSA Code,…
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Debt purchaser, Arrow Global has announced that it has agreed terms for two acquisitions which strengthen the Group’s investment and asset management capabilities and reinforce its growing presence in Italy. The first acquisition is for Europa Investimenti S.p.A., a leading originator and manager of Italian distressed debt investments, for an equity value of €62 million.…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today published its final policy statement on new rules for the credit card market. The FCA estimates the changes will save consumers between £310 million and £1.3 billion a year in lower interest charges. The new rules come into force on 1 March 2018, but firms have until 1…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it has launched a consultation on proposals to make information available on a wider range of individuals at authorised firms. The FCA and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) currently maintain a public Financial Services Register, “the FS Register”, of the firms that regulate and approve individuals. In July 2017, the…
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Thousands of people with mental health issues are trapped in a spiral of escalating according to latest research by The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. The institute said that in 2017, 23,000 people were being pursued while in hospital for mental health problems. Money and Mental Health is asking for the government to consider…
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Computershare has announced the successful transfer of £12 billion of buy-to-let Bradford & Bingley and Mortgage Express mortgages to their new owners. The transfer follows the sale of the loans to Blackstone and Prudential last year, and the new owners have retained the UK’s largest third-party mortgage administrator to provide a full suite of administration…
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European debt purchaser Intrum has announced that Thomas Moss has been appointed acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Current CFO Erik Forsberg will leave the company next week Moss is currently the Director of Group Business Control at Intrum, a role that he has held for the past 4 years. Before he joined Intrum he held the…
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European collections specialist, Intrum is organizing a hackathon in partnership with Tieto which will seek to examine how innovation can help to improve individual consumer’s financial well-being. Over the course of the two-day hackathon event in Helsinki, Finland on April 11-12 this year, participants from education institutions, startups, SMEs and other organisations will create new…
Read moreThe Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published an update on its work in the high-cost credit sector. The update follows a Feedback Statement the FCA published in July 2017 which identified key areas of concern with the sector including overdrafts, rent-to-own, home-collected credit and catalogue credit. Work undertaken since July 2017 has demonstrated an emerging…
Read morePeter Wyman’s independent review of funding of debt advice in the UK, commissioned by the Money Advice Service, has been published. Commenting on the release of the report, Andy Briscoe, Chair of the Debt Advice Steering Group, said “I am very grateful to Peter Wyman for this critically important independent review into the funding of…
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Debt Purchaser, Arrow Global Group has announced the appointment of Dave Sutherland as Group Chief Operating Officer (COO). Sutherland is a highly experienced executive with a successful track record of managing operations within large, international financial services organisations. He joins Arrow Global at an exciting phase of the Group’s development and will sit on the…
Read moreItaly’s Intesa Sanpaolo is considering selling its debt collection business and a bad loan portfolio to Sweden’s Intrum Justitia the two companies have said in separate statements. The move would mark a change of strategy for the Italian lender which set up the bad loan unit, called Capital Light Bank, back in 2014 and has…
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