Wonga goes under: Controversial payday lender placed into administration August 30, 2018 Controversial payday lender Wonga has filed for administration, after a barrage of compensation claims pushed it over the edge. Grant Thornton will be appointed as administrator of the stricken lender's UK operations tomorrow. The collapse threatens the jobs of around 250 UK employees in the firm's London Bridge headquarters. The firm's operations in South Africa, [...]
Claim-hit Wonga stops taking loan applications as it ‘considers its options’ August 30, 2018 Wonga appeared to be on the verge of folding this morning, as it made the decision to stop taking new loan applications. The payday lender told customers that it “continues to assess its options” in the wake of a huge number of compensation claims that led to shareholders providing an emergency £10m earlier this month. [...]
Insurer Chesnara’s profit falls in first half on Italian bond exposure August 30, 2018 Insurance and pensions administrator Chesnara said today its profit in the first six months of the year had fallen by nearly half, which it blamed on its exposure to Italian bonds. Chesnara posted profit before tax of £26.5m, which was a fall of 48.6 per cent from £51.6m in the same period last year. Read [...]
Africa needs fintech – but fintech needs Africa more August 30, 2018 What a difference a couple of decades make. At the turn of the century, Tony Blair remarked that “the state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world”. This week, on her first official visit to the continent, Theresa May embraced a new vision of optimism and hope. Read more: Theresa May [...]
Rightmove faces FTSE 100 eviction as engineering firms climb, say analysts August 29, 2018 Online estate agent Rightmove is the top contender to drop from the FTSE 100 during its reshuffle next week, analysts have predicted. A weak housing market in London and the south-east, and tough competition for rivals such as Zoopla and PurpleBricks could see the company dropped into the FTSE 250, despite year-on-year growth in revenue [...]
The US sanctions against Iran could start a war in the European commercial courts August 28, 2018 The reimpositions of US sanctions against Iran may be designed to be aggressive while remaining a fair distance short of actual war, but violent battles may be about to commence in the European courts. The cause is a big difference in tone and intent between Washington and Brussels. “Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be [...]
Private equity firm Apollo takes Aspen Insurance private in $2.6bn deal August 28, 2018 Aspen Insurance said today that funds associated with private equity firm Apollo Global Management had agreed to take it private in a $2.6bn deal. The Bermuda-headquartered insurer, which is listed in the US, has significant UK operations with offices in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Chelmsford, Croydon, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester. Apollo will pay $42.75 per share, [...]
The impact of a no-deal Brexit should set off alarm bells for the City’s finance firms August 28, 2018 Last week, the government produced papers assessing the impact of a no-deal Brexit scenario on various sectors, including financial services. It is concerning for the sector that a no-deal scenario is looking increasingly likely. The Bank of England governor Mark Carney ranks this possibility as “uncomfortably high”, while foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt suggested that there [...]
Payday lender Wonga pushed to the brink as claims management companies look for ‘next PPI’ August 27, 2018 Payday lender Wonga is considering insolvency among the options as it tries to deal with a deluge of complaints from claims management companies looking for “the next PPI”. Wonga said it is assessing “all options” for the group, which is struggling under the burden of a large number of compensation claims. The controversial firm raised [...]
London mayor Sadiq Khan should park the cap on taxis – it’s actually TfL licensing that is clogging up our roads August 24, 2018 Congestion is snarling up London, and Sadiq Khan is right to be worried. Traffic speeds are now well into horse and cart territory. In the morning peak, passengers on the route 15 bus between Tower Hill and Charing Cross are now down to crawling along at an average of 4.2mph. The number of private hire [...]