1. What was the Arena Television scandal and why did it matter?

Arena Television collapsed in 2021 after it was revealed that the company had secured hundreds of millions of pounds in funding using fake assets and falsified documents. Over 50 lenders were exposed, many unaware they were financing the same (non-existent) equipment. The case exposed a major weakness in the industry: the lack of a shared view of customers’ existing finance agreements.

2. What is Acquis Lumia and how does it help prevent fraud?

Acquis Lumia is a secure, industry-wide platform launched in 2022 by Acquis Data Services. It allows lenders to share anonymised data about live asset finance agreements. By comparing new applications against aggregated data from across the market, lenders can spot duplicate borrowing, irregular patterns, and potential fraud that would otherwise go unnoticed.

3. What kind of data do lenders share through Acquis Lumia?

Each month, lenders submit seven essential fields for every active agreement, including: agreement number, lessor ID, start and end dates, company registration number, anonymised lessee name, and the net book value of the asset. This data is anonymised and stored centrally, allowing lenders to compare against it during credit assessments without compromising confidentiality.

4. Who are some of the major participants in Acquis Lumia?

Lumia has quickly grown to include 40 members, including major players like HSBC Equipment Finance, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, Investec, Lombard (NatWest), Siemens Financial Services, Novuna, Paragon Bank, and Liberty Leasing. Most recently, Grenke joined as the 40th member, signalling continued momentum and industry buy-in.

5. Is Acquis Lumia responsible for the recent drop in asset finance fraud?

While no single measure can take full credit, recent figures from Fraudscape 2025 (via GBG and Cifas) show an 80% decline in identity fraud in the asset finance sector over the past year. This dramatic drop coincides with the wider adoption of Acquis Lumia and other targeted anti-fraud initiatives—suggesting that collaborative platforms like Lumia are playing a meaningful role in improving risk visibility and reducing fraud.