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Is Wonga on the brink of collapse?

Geoff Riley

27th August 2018

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Can't be long left for Wonga. It's hard to imagine any sane investor wanting to provide rescue capital to a business with large, increasing and uncertain contingent liabilities such as a compensation claim. It must be a black hole.

Read this BBC news report

Little more than five years ago, Wonga was anticipating a $1 billion floatation on the US stock market and they gambled on a multi-million pound shirt sponsorship with Newcastle United. Now - on some estimates, the business is worth less than £30 million.

Crucial to their commercial undoing was the decision by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to introduce caps to the interest rate and total interest that could be paid on un-secure, short-term loans.

This article from the Financial Times considers some of the possible effects on the market for high cost credit if Wonga departs the scene:

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Geoff Riley

Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for nearly forty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD and Revision conferences in the UK and overseas.