Provident Financial resolves regulation issues with City watchdog

Doorstep lender Provident Financial has said it has "substantially resolved" recent regulatory issues as it revealed that it has hired a new boss to lead its Vanquis Bank business.

The company, which has rejected a £1.3bn takeover bid from rival Non-Standard Finance (NSF), revealed that the Vanquis refund programme was more than 99 per cent complete.

Read more: Watchdog to probe Provident's £1.3bn hostile takeover bid

Vanquis was fined more than £1.9m by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in February last year for failing to disclose the cost of an add-on product and was ordered to repay around £168.7m in compensation.

“The board believes that Provident has substantially resolved all material outstanding regulatory issues with the FCA,” the firm said today.

The sub-prime lender, which provides credit to people that would be declined by mainstream banks, also outlined its ongoing growth plan after a failed reorganisation of its home credit business led to profit warnings, the departure of its chief executive and the suspension of its dividend. 

Read more: Provident slams 'irresponsible and highly opportunistic' takeover bid

It also revealed that it has completed the search for a new chairman for Vanquis and had agreed to appoint a new managing director next month.

NSF’s offer, pledging to revitalise the firm, gained the support for more than 50 per cent of Provident shareholders, including leading fund manager Neil Woodford however, the firm’s executives branded the move “irresponsible” and “highly opportunistic”.