P2P platform enters administration amid FCA probe

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P2P platform enters administration amid FCA probe

A regulated peer-to-peer property finance platform has entered into administration following action from the Financial Conduct Authority. 

On Friday (May 24) the regulator announced administrators from RSM had been appointed for Lendy Ltd, following a court order and amid an "ongoing" FCA investigation into the "circumstances that led" to the action. 

Regulated Lendy operates a P2P lending platform facilitating crowdfunded loans, which are then used to fund the purchase and development of property.

A statement on the company's website said the administrators Damian Webb, Phillip Sykes and Mark Wilson, all of RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP, were working closely with the FCA. 

The same administrators have been appointed for two further related, but unregulated, firms Lendy Provision Reserve Ltd and Saving Stream Security Holding Limited, both subsidiaries of Lendy Group Limited.

The statement said "limited" information was available in the early stages of administration and it therefore urged investors and creditors to check the Lendy website on a regular basis. 

In January the Financial Times reported Lendy had been placed on a watchlist by the FCA, which was concerned about the company's "ability to meet the standards required of regulated firms".

The FCA register shows the watchdog imposed an asset restriction on Lendy, requiring the company must not "dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of any of its assets" or "release client money without in either case the prior written consent of the Authority".

In October 2017 the platform applied for permission from the regulator to launch an innovative finance Isa (Ifisa), with its head of marketing and communications at the time claiming P2P offered a "good income stream within an overall portfolio" despite IFA's viewing it as "left field".  

rachel.addison@ft.com

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