We’ve been keeping an eye on what stories really got the market clicking and sharing this past year. Without a doubt the news that GE Capital was fundamentally changing as a business got a lot of attention, as did a lot of the UK acquisition stories. There were a couple of scandalous fraud stories, some senior moves, and some Leaseurope lists that drew our attention. Here’s to more scoops in 2016! Merry Christmas and a happy new year from Leasing Life.
January
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Six businessmen are charged in the UK with conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with the firm Total Asset, and fibre optic firm H20 networks. Total Asset collapsed in 2011 with debts of £150m (206.63m). Meanwhile, news that Macquarie was considering a sale of its asset finance arm for $323m piqued global interest.
February
The Wesleyan Group acquired Syscap; Robert Gordon and Chris Shirai take the helm at Hitachi Capital UK and US respectively; the FCA mulls consumer credit changes and intends to make non-execs part of the UK regulatory regime; while news that Keith Sangwin moved from Aldermore to United Trust Bank was also popular.
March
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By GlobalDataSecure Trust Bank made waves by entering the UK asset finance market, appointing Haydock Finance as its regulatory appointed representative, and bringing in Graham Drew and Arthur Burton from Shawbrook and Shire Leasing to lead the team. CIT appointed Eric Miller as its MD for equipment finance, while Shawbrook announced plans to float on the LSE.
April
The news that caught the industry by surprise: GE decided to sell its equipment finance arm as part of a $90bn sell off, as it sought to get out of its ‘systemically important’ regulatory tag in the US. Wells Fargo was in the picture to pick up a lot of its business. Leaseplan confirmed it would not sell to a consortium of investors, while in the US, the ELFA and the Canadian sister organisation expressed concerns at the Basel regulations.
May
Big news for Soc Gen and fleet arm ALD Automotive, as they top Leaseurope’s list of largest Euro lessors in 2014, while GE eyes selling its Italian lending arm GE Capital Interbanca. In the UK, the British gov’t sells a £500m stake in Lloyds, bringing public ownership of the bank to under 20%.
June
A nervous time for GE equipment finance staff, as Leasing Life breaks the news that staff will gain role clarification in July, while BNP Paribas’ fleet arm Arval swoops in for GE’s European fleet services business. Metro Bank UK appoints Nathan Mollet as its head of asset finance distribution; while 44 year old Peter Hupfeld succeed Jukka Salonen at Nordea Finance.
July
Aldermore deputy CEO Mark Stephens announces he will leave Aldermore at the end of 2015, while Carl D’Ammassa becomes group managing director for business finance. Leaseurope director general Tanguy van de Werve makes plans to depart after a decade in charge, while 1pm announces it has acquired Academy Leasing for around £12m.
August
The growth of alternative finance is highlighted in a report from Close Brothers, while Leasing Life breaks an industry-first news story on a GE U-turn, as it intends to keep its UK equipment financing arm, incorporating it into its UK banking group. Soc Gen and CNH Financial announce a retail finance deal across Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Romania and Bulgaria.
September
In the UK, Nicholas Marcou gets 3 and half years in prison for invoice finance fraud, cheating Barclays Bank out of £9m for ‘fresh air invoices’; Caterpillar launches a marine and offshore asset finance channel, and 3StepIt acquires Norwegian firm ITmove, one of 3 acquisitions it made this year.
October
Paragon Bank joins the fray in the UK, picking up Five Arrows Leasing Group for £117m from Rothschild, while ABN Amro UK managing director George Ashworth announces he is to head up Virgin Money’s SME lending unit, leaving Richard De Keijzer to carry on the task of growing the Dutch bank’s UK arm. Meanwhile CIT group announces it is to become a US commercial bank, making a flurry of personnel changes; Ellen R Alemany is to become CEO in April 2016.
November
News that Lloyds is to cut 221 commercial finance jobs is released by Unite the union, while BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions announce Charlotte Dennery as its new chief. UK funder LDF announce the acquisition of former Leasing Life brokerage of the year First Independent Finance, Soc Gen announce a new office equipment channel in the UK, and the IASB targets 2019 as a definitive start date for the joint accounting standard.
December
The eleventh Leasing Life conference and awards sees the industry gather in Budapest; Leaseurope announce payments specialist Leon Dhaene as director general to succeed Tanguy van de Werve, GE sells its Japanese commercial lending business to Sumitomo Mitsui for a reported $4.6bn, while BNP publicise a vendor deal with Kubota.
