Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The effects of a ‘hard’ Brexit will be decisive for the innovation capacity and competitiveness of the British automotive industry according to new research by Coface. After an exceptional peak in production of vehicles recorded in mid-2016 (1.02 million unit sales, up 8.5% for the January-August period compared to the same period in 2015), 2017…
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Guarantor loans specialist, Buddy Loans, has received full accreditation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The company which is based in Cheadle, Cheshire, was set-up in 2013 by entrepreneur Nicholas Zapolski to provide consumers, who have been refused loans by mainstream lenders, with affordable and accessible credit. Recently Buddy Loans has secured an investment of…
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The Central Bank of Ireland has fined Intesa Sanpaolo €1,000,000 and reprimanded it for four breaches of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act, 2010 (the ‘CJA 2010’). Intesa admits the four breaches. The Central Bank’s enforcement investigation identified significant failures in Intesa’s controls, policies and procedures in respect of anti-money laundering and…
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UK Finance has announced the appointment of Jackie Bennett OBE as its new Head of Mortgages. Currently Deputy Head of Compliance at The Northview Group, in her new role at UK Finance Jackie will be responsible for leading the trade body’s mortgage policy development. She will join the organisation in February next year. Prior to…
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Four directors of Secure My Money Limited (SMM) have been disqualified following an investigation by the Insolvency Service. The individuals disqualified are: Mark Robert Kennedy for 8 years; David John Carter Mullins for 8 years; Edward John Booth for 7 years; and Christopher Brotherton for 5 years. All four were the directors who had responsibility for…
Read moreThree directors of Speed-e-Loans.com Limited (SEL) have been disqualified from acting as directors. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy, & Industrial Strategy, accepted disqualification undertakings from Philip Miller for nine years, Robert Alan Davies for six years and Daniel Jonathan Miller for five years – following an investigation by the Insolvency Service. At administration,…
Read moreThe Treasury Committee has launched a new inquiry into household finances. The Committee will take a broad look at the state of UK household balance sheets, including whether households are saving adequately in the current economic environment. It will scrutinise problematic indebtedness, inter-generational issues, lifetime financial planning, and the effectiveness of the market in financing solutions…
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SSE and NPower’s owner Innogy have entered talks about merging their supply businesses into a new separate company. In a statement on SSE’s website the company said “In line with its stated commitment to embrace change in each of its businesses, adapting them to the political, economic, social and technological requirements of customers and of…
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The Information Commissioners Officer (ICO)’s Deputy Commissioner has reminded organisations to be transparent with people’s personal data after a survey revealed a significant deficit of trust that organisations must address if they want to innovate with personal information. New ICO research found that only one fifth of the UK public (20%) have trust and confidence…
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New research, conducted by specialist business consultancyCtrl-Shift, and Callcredit suggests that Open Banking will expose banks to new competition, by forcing traditional banks to open their API (Application programming interface) to third parties. This will give competitors access to banks’ enormous data collections. According to the research, banks have underused this data, due to their complex…
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Following on from the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee news that is has voted to increase interest rates by 0.25% to 0.5% – the first rate rise since 2007. The credit and collections industry has responded to the rate change. Joanna Elson OBE, Chief Executive of the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs…
Read moreDebt purchaser Intrum has entered into an agreement with Lowell to sell Lindorff’s businesses in Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Sweden as well as Intrum Justitia’s business in Norway. The sale agreement was specified by the European Commission as a condition of the combination of the Intrum Justitia and Intrum companies earlier this year. The transaction value of…
Read moreOfgem has launched its annual State of the Energy Market report. The report gives a detailed assessment of how well the energy market is working for consumers in terms of competition, affordability, decarbonisation, and security of supply. In the section dedicated to affordability Ofgem notes that even if suppliers provide energy at the lowest feasible…
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