The collapse of Enviornment Tv in late 2021 stays probably the most sobering episodes in latest UK asset finance historical past.
Enviornment Tv’s absconded administrators and lessors’ lacking tens of millions
What gave the impression to be a thriving broadcast enterprise was, in actuality, a meticulously orchestrated fraud. Dozens of lenders, greater than 50, by some counts, have been uncovered to an internet of falsified paperwork, phantom gear, and duplicated finance agreements. The aftermath was devastating and made painfully clear that the {industry} lacked a option to see the total image.
Within the wake of Enviornment, the {industry} confronted a reckoning. How had so many establishments, with supposedly robust danger mitigation frameworks, did not detect what was in the end a shared vulnerability? The reply: a systemic lack of visibility. Conventional instruments, credit score reference companies, inside fraud checks, Firms Home knowledge, couldn’t present a cross-lender view of stay agreements. The end result was an ideal storm for coordinated fraud.
Had the asset finance {industry}’s long-standing reluctance to share data been exploited by Enviornment’s absconded administrators? It actually appeared that manner.
Fraud prevention after Enviornment Tv: will something change?
Out of that disaster got here Acquis Lumia, launched in 2022 by Acquis Information Providers, a division of Acquis Insurance coverage Administration Ltd. Lumia provided the {industry} what it by no means had earlier than: a collaborative platform the place asset finance suppliers share key knowledge factors from lively agreements, anonymised and aggregated right into a central register. It’s a easy however highly effective idea, evaluate new functions in opposition to a wider market dataset to identify pink flags in actual time.
Beneath the Acquis Lumia platform, every taking part lender submits a month-to-month file containing seven key knowledge fields for each lively asset finance settlement.
The information consists of the settlement quantity, a singular identifier for every finance deal, and the lessor ID, which signifies the submitting lender. It additionally captures the begin and expiry dates of the settlement, offering perception into the length and overlap of borrowing preparations. To determine the borrower, the firm registration quantity is submitted, together with the lessee firm identify, which is anonymised earlier than being saved within the central register. Lastly, the internet ebook worth of the asset, its present worth on the lender’s books is recorded, giving a monetary reference level for the settlement.
And now, with Grenke introduced as Lumia’s fortieth member, the platform’s development is tough to disregard. It consists of main banks like Lombard, BNP Paribas, and HSBC Tools Finance, in addition to independents like Liberty Leasing. The tempo of adoption factors to a sector that now not sees collaboration as a compromise, however as a necessity.
