Funding Circle fund extends Citibank facility

FUNDING Circle’s dedicated investment trust has expanded its existing facility with Citibank from £50m to approximately £66m.

The Funding Circle SME Income Fund (FCIF) said in a stock market update that the additional £16m would be drawn down during August and would be put towards new originations in the UK and central Europe.

“The company is continuing to explore growth opportunities and as stated in the 2018 annual report, Funding Circle and FCIF are in discussions with the British Business Bank about a project to provide financing to UK SMEs via the Funding Circle UK lending platform,” the notice said.

The Citibank deal was first announced in January and indirectly channels funds to small businesses through the peer-to-peer lending platform.

Under a rather complicated structured finance deal, Citibank’s London branch advances a senior, floating rate loan through Irish special purpose vehicles.

The P2P sector has seen a number of City funding deals in recent months. MarketInvoice has partnered with Investec and Germany’s Varengold, while ThinCats announced the conclusion of a £200m funding programme led by Waterfall Asset Management.

And former Peer-to-Peer Finance Association member LendInvest unveiled a long-term financing partnership with Citi in November to fund buy-to-let mortgages.