Funding Circle CFO Exits, Replacement Named

U.K.-based small business lending platform Funding Circle has announced its chief financial officer will depart the company, reports in City A.M. said Monday (Jan. 27).

Sean Glithero announced his plans to leave Funding Circle, which has already named Oliver White as his replacement. White is currently the CFO at Provident Financial Group’s Vanquis Bank.

“On behalf of Funding Circle, I would like to thank Sean for his significant contribution since joining us in 2017,” said Funding Circle Co-Founder and Chief Executive Samir Desai. “He has been an integral member of the team and someone I have always enjoyed working alongside. We wish him all the best for the future.”

In a statement, Glithero said, “It has been an enormous privilege to have worked alongside so many talented people here at Funding Circle. I am leaving to take a break and I continue to remain a strong supporter of Funding Circle and its mission.”

Shares in the small business lending platform dropped 0.99 percent in afternoon trading in the U.K., reports said.

Glithero’s departure is the latest setback for Funding Circle.

Early last year the company announced it would be closing its SME Income Fund in the U.S. following loan defaults and market exposure shifts.

Last August reports pointed to growing losses at the company due to “some deterioration” of its high-risk loan portfolio “driven by a deterioration in the consumer credit environment since 2016, which affects smaller and younger companies, and in response we tightened our risk criteria for higher risk bank loans,” the company said at the time.

City A.M. reports noted that shares had dropped last July by as much as 20 percent after Funding Circle halved revenue forecasts. That same month, the company decided to delay its launch in Canada as a result of an “uncertain economic environment,” Desair said at the time.

Months later, new concerns among investors were raised when reports revealed some investors were forced to wait months to withdraw funds from the Funding Circle platform, with the company pointing to slowing demand for small business loans, resulting in more lengthy loan sales on the secondary market.