U.K. OFT Takes Broad Action against Payday Lenders

Payday Lending UK OFT

On March 6, the U.K. Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced that it will institute enforcement actions and seek to revoke the licenses of payday lenders that do not change certain business practices within 12 weeks. The action applies to the leading 50 payday lenders who account for 90 percent of the U.K. payday market. The OFT action comes in a final report on a broad payday lending investigation, which revealed widespread irresponsible lending and a failure to comply with the standards set out in the OFT’s Irresponsible Lending Guidance. The OFT also proposed to refer the payday lending market to the Competition Commission to investigate competition in that market.