Zopa will reduce its high risk loan exposure following reports on the UK market's consumer credit outlook; data shows consumer defaults and insolvency levels are increasing; the firm says it will seek to target more low risk borrowers; the changes will allow it to offer higher returns in some of its leading products; the company plans to publish a monthly blog post with its perspective on the consumer credit market. Source
P2P lenders have been debating the definition of default as many investors seek standardization; Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) members define a default when a loan is 45 days overdue and begin recovery collection at 120 days; non-P2PFA platforms have varying standards that fit with their business models, ranging from two consecutive months to 180 days to three missed payments; in the banking industry banks do not have a standard definition, focusing more on delinquent payment collections than actually labeling a loan in default. Source
UK challenger bank OakNorth has hired three new senior executives in anticipation of higher lending demand post-Brexit; Georgy Naydenov and Stuart Blair will join OakNorth as debt finance directors and David Webley was hired as a credit director; the bank's loan book has grown by 300% since the June referendum vote with loans of 300 million British pounds ($368.85 million); for 2017 it anticipates lending over 500 million British pounds ($614.75 million). Source
