The Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) is a trade body representing three quarters of the P2P lending market in the UK; RateSetter has breached rules set by the P2PFA; according to RateSetter, "No customer has experienced any loss from our actions but we recognize that our actions breached the principles of the Association."; recently the company has been in the news with regards to their wholesale lending business that it has been winding down. Source
One of the top three P2P platforms in the UK loses their new chief risk officer only six months after he was initially hired; Cyrille Salle de Chou, who initially came from Lloyd's Banking Group, is now headed to HSBC to be the chief risk officer of their European retail business; Salle de Chou told the Financial Times: "[It is] a great opportunity I could not refuse. Not a sign of concerns re RateSetter. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at RateSetter." Source
RateSetter has sold non-performing debt to debt purchaser 1st Credit; source says the sale was for 2.1 million British pounds ($2.6 million) of non-performing loans originated between 2010 and 2015; the sale goes beyond the company's standard plans for default collection and coverage which include support from one of the industry's most well-known provision funds; the RateSetter Provision Fund promises to cover defaults for borrowers and is valued at approximately 22 million British pounds ($27.2 million); with expected losses of approximately 19 million British pounds ($23.5 million) it currently has a coverage ratio of 118%. Source
RateSetter has announced new terms for its lenders which will go into effect on March 1; the new terms provide increased transparency for lending activities; they also give greater flexibility to the Provision Fund through a new stabilization period; changes made to the lender terms since October 2015 can be found here. Source
Firm says the platform is the first to introduce hire purchase loans for businesses; the firm has developed the product in collaboration with former wholesale lending partner Corporate Asset Solutions who will serve as a distribution channel; RateSetter will take full security over the specified asset and the platform says its hire purchase agreements will range up to GBP750,000 ($993,000). Source
Plum uses artificial intelligence to suggest and automate savings for its customers; the RateSetter Plum partnership will add a new savings option for Plum customers; through the platform customers can now choose to automate investment to a RateSetter account with an average return of approximately 4.7%. Source
RateSetter saw pre tax losses jump to $31mn from $7.1mn due to a bad loan to an advertising company; RateSetter also saw revenues jump by 38 percent as well as increases in customers and borrowers; the bad loan was absorbed by the lender as they explained it fell outside their credit policy and it was unfair to put the losses on their investors. Source.
In a recently recorded speech, Rhydian Lewis said that the company expects to be profitable in 2018; the p2p lender was previously profitable in financial years 2014 and 2015; the company is also celebrating its seventh birthday and has facilitated £2.1bn in loans, connecting 57,000 lenders with 388,000 borrowers. Source
RateSetter is ending its wholesale loan program after discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority; the Financial Conduct Authority has requested P2P lenders not undertake wholesale lending which provides loan capital to other businesses and financial institutions specifically for the purpose of lending; in 2016, RateSetter reported 114,347,646 British pounds ($142,591,515) in wholesale lending. Source