Save the date! Asset Finance Connect Autumn Conference returns on November 29th

We are delighted to announce that the Asset Finance Connect UK Autumn Conference will be taking place on 29th November 2023 at etc venues, 155 Bishopsgate, London.

Primary research carried out by Asset Finance Connect (AFC) among its members in September 2023 has identified that lenders and brokers in the auto and equipment finance industry are becoming increasingly concerned by the growing cost of compliance, and fear that it has become too onerous, resulting in some regulated providers withdrawing from doing regulated business.

Concerns reported by lenders include cost and the commercial implications of the recent proliferation of demanding social and environmental goals in a less benign economic environment.

“Our Autumn conference will help lenders to debate the issues.” said Edward Peck, founder of Asset Finance Connect. “Compliance cost came top of the list of expected cost increases due to impact the industry over the next six months. In particular, some lenders expressed fears that expensive changes to their business processes caused by the new Consumer Duty may not be justified by the benefits derived.

“Others are looking again at their investment in sustainability – considering their commitment to fund battery electric vehicles as the government considers the practical and political implications of current reduces its timelines relating to phaseout of manufacturing ICE vehicles; and in equipment finance where lenders worry about their ability to take significant residual value risk on green assets.”

At the Asset Finance Connect Conference we will consider the topics which the industry tells us are on their minds:

Is regulated business in danger of becoming too difficult, too risky, and too expensive under the new Consumer Duty being introduced by the FCA, leading some lenders to withdraw from the market? We ask whether the new Consumer Duty designed to create good outcomes for customers is on track. Is it delivering value for money?
Everyone wants to save the planet – but the Government has rowed back on its commitments, and the political consensus for real change following the Uxbridge by-election appears to be disappearing. Research by the AA showed a dramatic drop in support among consumers as well as Conservatives for the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel vehicles (prior to the change of date). As politicians consider social leasing as the possible road ahead for BEVs (a next step after BIK; and specialist BEV lender Onto announces it has gone into liquidation); we ask what role the auto and equipment finance industry can really play in delivering the transition to electric vehicles through funding used BEVs; and in financing plant and machinery needed in start-up green manufacturing. Is sustainable, commercial as well as desirable?
Claims management companies have started new legal action which threatens to damage the UK auto finance sector – an unintended consequence of changes made to the current regulatory regime that relate to DIC. The FCA has told auto finance lenders to prepare while seeking to limit the damage. We ask what the implications are for the industry as it seeks to resolve issues like commission disclosure, which remains unsettled after months of discussion. How can the regulated and unregulated market drive best practice in the industry without opening themselves up for litigation? What might best practice for lending to SMEs look like? What might a corporate/SME duty be like that would deliver real value for customers and how would it be different from Consumer Duty?
Basel 3.1 is expected to increase the cost of lending to SMEs this Autumn unless the Government U-turn on current plans to implement it. We examine the changing market for SME lending focussing specifically on the increasingly successful mid-tier of independent lenders. These lenders, funded in part by the government through the British Business Bank, are nimble, tech-savvy and have demonstrated greater success in growing market share than their big bank rivals. How will they perform should defaults start to rise? Are independent lenders a long-term better home for SME funding than the big banks, whose lending appetite falls away at just the time when SMEs need them most.

For more information and to book tickets at the early bird rate, visit the Asset Finance Connect Autumn 2023 Conference website.

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