Following the appointment of Andy Haste as Executive Chairman of Wonga.com (Wonga) in July 2014, Slaughter and May has been acting for Wonga and has advised them in connection with the announcement made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 2 October 2014.

Wonga has worked closely with the FCA to agree additional requirements to its lending criteria, which have been implemented as of 2 October 2014 across its UK consumer loans service.

As a result of this agreement, Wonga will:

(i) write off all outstanding debt, worth a total consideration of circa £220 million, for approximately 330,000 customers who are currently in excess of 30 days arrears and who would not have received a loan if presented under its new affordability criteria

(ii) pay compensation of over £2.6 million for unfair and misleading debt collection practices, and write off all interests and charges on outstanding debt, to be paid over an extended period of four months, to over 45,000 customers who are in arrears of up to 29 days, and who would not have received a loan if presented under its new affordability criteria

CONTACTS

Corporate: Andy Ryde (partner), Financial Regulation: Jan Putnis (partner), Lucy Bennett (associate)