Subprime lender Amigo Loans launches new loan product after learning from ‘mistakes of the past’ Amigo Loans Payday lender Amigo Loans has said it has “learnt the lesson from the past” ahead of the launch of a new guarantor loan product for “underserved” customers. The Bournemouth firm is set to offer customers two new loan products after it was blocked from trading by the UK’s financial watchdog in March 2020. The new [...]
Wise profit leaps as news of fintech chief’s FCA tax probe settles WISE PROFIT Fintech giant Wise today revealed profits hit £371.9m last year on the back of a surge in revenues and customer growth. The London-listed fintech said gross profit rose 43 per cent on 2021 levels while revenues topped £559.9m, up a third on last year. Customer numbers meanwhile hit 4.6m in the last quarter of 2022 [...]
FCA laments the high number of financial crime ‘red flags’ missed by crypto firms FCA The Financial Conduct Authority said many crypto firms that have applied to register under money laundering regulations miss financial crime “red flags” and have inadequate controls. A spokesperson for the FCA said to City A.M.: “We have seen too many financial crime red flags missed by the cryptoasset businesses seeking registration.” Some firms do not [...]
Shock in fintech sector: City watchdog FCA launches tax evasion probe into billionaire founder of Wise June 27, 2022 The money transfer giant Wise revealed this morning that the FCA has launched a probe into its billionaire co-founder and chief executive over his status as a so-called deliberate tax defaulter. Wise said the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched an inquiry into Kristo Kaarmann’s “regulatory obligations and standards”. It comes after Kaarmann was named [...]
City watchdog hits Ghana International Bank with £5.8m fine over money laundering failures June 23, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog has fined Ghana International Bank £5.8m over its poor anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing control measures. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined the London bank over its failure to carry out proper checks for money laundering. The watchdog said that while there is no evidence any money laundering actually took place, [...]
FCA cracks down on fraud by using latest analytics to scan 100,000 websites a day June 23, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog is harnessing state-of-the-art analytics to scan 100,000 websites a day in a crackdown on scams and fraud. While the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) cannot remove fraudulent sites, it has added almost 2,000 possible scams to its consumer warning list since May 2021. This represents a third more than during the same time [...]
MPs launch finance watchdog unit to prevent ‘systemic risks’ from post-Brexit rule changes June 23, 2022 A cross-party group of MPs will this week launch a task force to scrutinise proposed changes to the UK’s financial service regulatory regime after Brexit. The treasury committee’s new financial services regulations subsidiary unit will spearhead interrogating tabled amendments to rules governing the City’s banks, brokers and insurers. Its work will be supported by the [...]
City watchdog vows to pursue retrial in collapsed insider trading case June 22, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog has said it will seek a retrial against two men accused of insider trading, after a jury was unable to reach a verdict last month. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will pursue a retrial against plastics company exec Stuart Bayes and his friend Jonathan Swann. The FCA accused [...]
UK watchdog fines London insurer JLT Speciality Ltd £7.9m for involvement in bribery scandal June 22, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog has fined London insurance broker JLT Specialty Ltd (JLTSL) £7.9m over its involvement in a multi-million-dollar bribery scandal. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) hit the London broker with a £7.9m fine for failing to prevent financial crime, after an “introducer” working for the firm in Panama paid $3m in bribes to [...]
UK watchdog met with BNP Paribas’ HR team over handling of sexual discrimination complaint June 20, 2022 FRENCH Bank BNP Paribas came under active scrutiny from the UK’s financial watchdog over its alleged mishandling of complaints from one of its brokers that she was subject to years of sexual discrimination and bullying at the firm’s London offices. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) held a series of meeting with senior members of [...]