Lenders

The collapse of British property lender Market Financial Solutions (MFS) is exposing what Bloomberg described as an alleged collateral fraud that may leave lenders facing as much as £1.3 billion in losses and is raising new concerns about due diligence in private credit. 

An entrepreneur who used ties to prominent academics to raise nearly $27 million for a cluster of startups ran what U.S. regulators described as an “IP-rich” and “Ponzi-like” scheme that recycled new investor money to repay earlier backers while funding a lavish personal lifestyle.

New details have emerged about the seizure of two armored bank vehicles by Hungarian officials earlier this month, including allegations that the then-detained Ukrainian bank workers were beaten and injected with an unknown substance.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has discussed ways to tighten the Treasury’s oversight of the Federal Reserve by borrowing elements from the Bank of England model, in a move that could significantly reshape the central bank’s relationship with the government.

It was a tiny Swiss bank, headquartered in an open-plan office close to Lake Zurich and little known abroad. But MBaer Merchant Bank AG would sometimes charge clients 10 times the normal rate to process payments.

Iran-linked hackers have stepped up cyberattacks on Israel in recent weeks, wiping data at more than 50 small businesses and compromising about 50 public security cameras, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing Israel’s top civilian cyber official.

Britain’s financial regulator has opened an investigation into collapsed mortgage lender Market Financial Solutions, marking the first formal regulatory probe into the Mayfair-based group after its failure amid fraud allegations.

The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on an international network of 16 people and companies that allegedly diverted more than $100 million to Hezbollah since 2020. 

Switzerland has approved its first comprehensive national strategy for fighting money laundering and terrorist financing, the country’s Federal Council announced Friday. 

Career officials at the U.S. Treasury Department are pushing back against a Trump administration effort that could require banks to verify customers’ citizenship information, as lenders warn the idea would be costly, difficult to implement, and potentially harmful to the economy.