P2P-Banking has released its monthly report on loan originations; Funding Circle led originations for the month at 106.1 million euros, also reporting a new monthly high; Zopa and Ratesetter also topped the list; Zopa reported monthly loan originations of 85.3 million euros and Ratesetter had loan originations of 63.9 million euros. Source
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French based online lending fintech October is telling small businesses they won’t...
Peer-to-peer platform Octopus Choice is estimating GBP50 million ($64.08 million) in loans in its first year of business; the platform offers loans secured on residential property with average returns of 4.2% and loan to value ratios of up to 70%; the firm's loans have ranged from GBP95,000 ($121,744) to more than GBP5 million ($6.41 million); the firm has been fully authorized by the FCA and has received its HMRC approval to offer an IFISA. Source
Firm was given full FCA authorization at the beginning of 2017 and expects the IFISA launch to add to high current demand on the platform; says it will target financial advisers with the new offering; the lender has originated over GBP130 million ($169 million) since launching in April 2016; it focuses on secured property loans with conservative loan to value ratios of approximately 60%. Source
Real estate P2P lending platform Octopus Choice has received full authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK; the FCA approval now allows it to begin the process for offering innovative finance individual savings accounts (IFISAs) for investors; the firm has been in business for nine months; it currently provides secured loans to residential property borrowers. Source
Ocwen Financial is currently managing enforcement orders from 22 state regulators regarding abuse of mortgage servicing; factors involved with the proceedings include illegal foreclosures, deceptive fees and mishandled customer home loan payments; shares of the publicly traded company have fallen approximately 50%; the enforcement orders prohibit the acquisition of new mortgage servicing rights and the origination of mortgage loans. Source
Ohpen, which provides banking technology services, is partnering with insurance giant Aegon; Aegon plans to replace standalone systems for pensions, savings, current accounts and wealth management with the new platform; Ohpen's technology runs on AWS and Aegon will plugin via the API-based interface; Chris Zadeh, Ohpen's CEO stated: "If you want to be ready for the future and save an enormous amount of code, you should have one administrative system for all these different brands. Aegon and Knab and their pensions will use the same cloud-based administrative system, and that's ours." Source
Old Mutual has reduced its stake in the VPC Specialty Lending Fund to less than 6%; the Fund's performance has been struggling since September 2016 and it has been steadily shifting to balance sheet investments; over half of the portfolio is now contained in balance sheet investments which is an increase from 43% in June 2016. Source
Old Mutual has been decreasing its position in the Fund throughout the year and has now reduced it even further; in March 2017 Old Mutual reduced its stake to below 6% and following its most recent move its stake is now less than 4.99%; according to AltFi, the VPC Specialty Lending Fund is the second largest online lending and alternative credit fund with approximately GBP351 million ($456 million); the Fund has been experiencing losses in recent months and the managers have been enacting a share buyback strategy while also shifting its positioning to greater allocation in balance sheet investments. Source
UK financial services conglomerate Old Mutual is evaluating its ownership in Old Mutual Asset Management (OMAM) and has decreased its ownership share in the company to 51%; HNA and Advent now appear to be the most interested buyers of the asset management business; while OMAM has discussed a buyout with the potential bidders it appears hesitant to proceed with a sale due to relationships with OMAM's affiliated investment boutiques; it is also nearing a minority stake which would change deal discussions; overall the UK's Old Mutual appears to be headed toward a four way selloff of its businesses including: OMAM, a wealth management company in the UK, an insurance business in South Africa and a stake in Nedbank. Source