Close Brothers and Lloyds shares slide after UK motor finance ruling
Close Brothers loses court ruling on car loan commissions
Shares slide more than 20%, Lloyds loses 6%
UK regulator considering consumer redress scheme
Adds FirstRand statement in paragraph 7, updates shares in paragraph 5
LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) -Shares in Close Brothers Group CBRO.L slumped on Friday after a London court ruled that motor finance brokers must fully inform customers about commissions when taking out car loans, a judgment that also pulled Lloyds LLOY.L shares down sharply.
The Court of Appeal's ruling, allowing three linked appeals brought by consumers, comes as Britain's finance regulator considers a potential billion pound-plus consumer redress scheme following customer complaints about overcharging on commission when buying a car.
Close Brothers shares fell as much as21% and flirted with a 20-year low after the ruling, which the company said it intended to appeal to the UK's Supreme Court.
The group also said it would temporarily pause the writing of new UK motor finance business "while we review and implement any relevant changes to our documentation and processes to ensure compliance with these new requirements."
Shares in Lloyds, one of a number of key providers of motor finance, fell more than 6% to a three-week low, while Barclays were down1.6% by 1440 GMT.The FTSE 100 .FTSE index was little changed.
Other key providers include Santander UK, part of Spain's Santander SAN.MC group.
South African lender FirstRand, the defendant in two of the three cases, said in astatement on Friday to the Johannesburg stock exchange that it did not agree with the findings and it intended to appeal at the UK's Supreme Court.
Analysts have estimated the sector's total compensation bill could reach 16 billion pounds ($20.79 billion), making it the costliest consumer banking scandal in Britain since the faulty sales of payment protection insurance.
Lloyds said in February it had set aside some 450 million pounds to cover the potential cost of the Financial Conduct Authority's probe of the motor finance sector.
The Court of Appeal said in a summary of its ruling that brokers owe a fiduciary duty to consumers, which imposes "an obligation on the part of the broker to act in the best interests of the customer and not to put themselves in a position of conflict".
This meant brokers cannot lawfully receive a commission from lenders "without obtaining the customer's fully informed consent to the payment", the court added.
Close Brothers said the ruling "sets a higher bar for the disclosure of and consent to the existence, nature, and quantum of any commission paid" than current FCA rules or other regulations in place at the time.
The FCA said last month it was extending a pause to the deadline for motor finance companies to respond to complaints, and would set out the next steps in its review in May 2025 – in part due to the Court of Appeal's pending ruling.
This month, Barclays BARC.L brought a legal challenge to a key ruling on motor finance commission in a case expected to affect the FCA's potential consumer redress scheme.
($1 = 0.7704 pounds)
Reporting by Sam Tobin and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes in London
Additional reporting by Muvija M in London and Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Mrigank Dhaniwala, Sachin Ravikumar and Louise Heavens
Ativos relacionados
Últimas notícias
Isenção de Responsabilidade: As entidades do XM Group proporcionam serviço de apenas-execução e acesso à nossa plataforma online de negociação, permitindo a visualização e/ou uso do conteúdo disponível no website ou através deste, o que não se destina a alterar ou a expandir o supracitado. Tal acesso e uso estão sempre sujeitos a: (i) Termos e Condições; (ii) Avisos de Risco; e (iii) Termos de Responsabilidade. Este, é desta forma, fornecido como informação generalizada. Particularmente, por favor esteja ciente que os conteúdos da nossa plataforma online de negociação não constituem solicitação ou oferta para iniciar qualquer transação nos mercados financeiros. Negociar em qualquer mercado financeiro envolve um nível de risco significativo de perda do capital.
Todo o material publicado na nossa plataforma de negociação online tem apenas objetivos educacionais/informativos e não contém — e não deve ser considerado conter — conselhos e recomendações financeiras, de negociação ou fiscalidade de investimentos, registo de preços de negociação, oferta e solicitação de transação em qualquer instrumento financeiro ou promoção financeira não solicitada direcionadas a si.
Qual conteúdo obtido por uma terceira parte, assim como o conteúdo preparado pela XM, tais como, opiniões, pesquisa, análises, preços, outra informação ou links para websites de terceiras partes contidos neste website são prestados "no estado em que se encontram", como um comentário de mercado generalizado e não constitui conselho de investimento. Na medida em que qualquer conteúdo é construído como pesquisa de investimento, deve considerar e aceitar que este não tem como objetivo e nem foi preparado de acordo com os requisitos legais concebidos para promover a independência da pesquisa de investimento, desta forma, deve ser considerado material de marketing sob as leis e regulações relevantes. Por favor, certifique-se que leu e compreendeu a nossa Notificação sobre Pesquisa de Investimento não-independente e o Aviso de Risco, relativos à informação supracitada, os quais podem ser acedidos aqui.
