Nearly twenty years since the first loan on a peer-to-peer platform, the peer-to-peer and crowdfunding industry has expanded significantly. The FCA has viewed peer-to-peer as a positive addition to the market for consumers and helped facilitate the growth of the P2P sector.
But with increased growth, comes increased responsibility. And it’s important to recognise the particular compliance challenges faced by P2P firms. Serving customers both as borrowers and as investors means P2P firms are subject to more than one of the FCA’s rulebooks. As well as treating customers fairly, they need to be transparent to investors and make sure their capital is protected.
The FCA carried out a comprehensive consultation in 2018/19 and continues to challenge the industry on improving standards.
Helping peer-to-peer lenders at all stages of their life cycle
FCA Authorisation
We’re experts in FCA authorisation – and have helped over 500 firms get authorised over the last 20 years. We can work with you on your initial strategy and planning before approaching the FCA, and can support you along the FCA authorisation journey.
Governance
We can review your governance, both in terms of compliance with SM&CR, and in terms of long term systems and controls to protect your customers. The regulator has highlighted that under SM&CR they’ll consider the conduct of individuals in terms of their management of both their regulated and unregulated business. This could be particularly pertinent for senior managers in the P2P industry.
Appropriateness
We have extensive experience helping investment managers with suitability and appropriateness. We can help you design and review your investor onboarding process, and make sure you’re investors are at the heart of your business.
Regulatory compliance for P2P firms
We can provide ongoing compliance advice and help with training, policies, compliance monitoring and anything else that crops up. We can understand both CONC and COBs and can help your compliance team navigate the regulatory landscape and see what’s on the horizon.
Retail lending
We work across the consumer credit sector and with banks and mortgage lenders. We can help with suitability assessments for new borrowers, both individuals and SMEs and we can also help you make sure your collections processes and procedures are fair and effective.
Client money
We have a team of experts in the FCA’s CASS rules around holding client money and assets. The FCA are particularly interested in firms’ controls of client money in the peer-to-peer sector.
Recovery and resolution
With a couple of high-profile collapses, the FCA is particularly concerned about effective recovery and resolution in P2P. Given the innovative nature of the sector, controls are not always as mature as they need to be. Wind down planning is particularly important. Both from a regulatory and commercial perspective it is vital your investors have the confidence that they are protected in the event of the worst case scenario. We have a specialist prudential team that can help in this area.
Preventing financial crime in P2P
Preventing Financial Crime is a continuing focus across all financial services, particularly in newer, more innovative sectors. Firms should be able to demonstrate that their onboarding processes are effective, and they are preventing money laundering and potential fraud. We have a large team of financial crime specialists who can provide advice and support in this area.
Our experts
