Funding Circle

FCA grants Funding Circle full authorisation




Funding Circle has revealed that it has secured full authorisation from the FCA.

Authorisation now puts Funding Circle in a position to be able to launch an Innovative Finance Isa, subject to HMRC approval.

Since launching in 2010, the direct lending platform has allowed people and organisations to lend to small businesses, offering average returns of 6.5% per year.

“Our vision is to support thousands of people across the UK to earn stable, industry-leading returns by lending directly to small businesses,” said James Meekings, UK managing director and co-founder of Funding Circle (pictured above, centre).

“With more than 60,000 investors now regularly lending through Funding Circle, we are on track to becoming a mainstream investment choice for investors up and down the country.”

The investors using Funding Circle include 60,000 individuals, local authorities, the British Business Bank, the European Investment Bank and financial institutions such as pension funds.

To date, £2.3bn has been lent to over 24,000 business through Funding Circle.

The platform recently announced that it plans to stop property development lending in 2018 in order to focus on small business lending.

Also pictured above: Samir Desai, co-founder of Funding Circle, left, and Andrew Mullinger, co-founder of Funding Circle, right 

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