18 June 2024
Investment Evolution Credit
plc
("IEC",
the "Company" or the Group)
IEC Business Strategy Update
and Directorate Change
Investment Evolution Credit plc
(AQSE: IEC) - 18 June 2024: IEC, a global fintech group
specialising in online consumer loans, announces the following
business strategy update and directorate change.
Appointment of Non-executive Finance & Compliance
Director
IEC, as part of its ongoing
commitment to strong corporate governance and compliance, plans to
appoint a new Non-executive Finance & Compliance Director, in
addition to its existing Non-executive Director, by the end of July
2024. The new Director will also be appointed Chairman of the Audit
Committee and Chairman of the Nomination Committee - the remit of
the Nomination Committee has recently been broadened to include
oversight and compliance with the AQSE Rules, and henceforth, will
be known as the Nomination and AQSE Rules Committee. The new
Director will be a UK citizen and resident with strong financial
and compliance experience. In addition to overseeing IEC's
financial reporting and audit process, the new Director will also
be responsible for overseeing ongoing internal audits of IEC's
governance and compliance framework, and to address any action
points identified as part of the audit. The governance and
compliance internal audit will be undertaken globally by qualified
external compliance and legal firms on an annual basis. IEC
satisfactorily completed its last internal compliance audit in
April 2024 over a 6-month period, utilising both external
compliance and legal firms under the oversight of the both the CEO
and COO.
Sam Prasad has resigned as Director
and CFO/COO effective 31 July 2024 to pursue other business and
personal interests. The Board of IEC thanks Sam for his
instrumental support and contribution in both the establishment of
the Company in UK and the listing of IEC on AQSE in December 2023.
Glendys Aguilera, current Director and Lending Manager, has been
appointed General Manager and remains a Director of the Company.
The preparation of IEC financial accounts and reporting will
continue to be undertaken by an outsourced specialist financial
group under the supervision of the new Finance & Compliance
Director and the CEO.
New
Global Branding
IEC will utilise the existing
established consumer brand of Mr. Amazing Loans only going forward
and will no longer proceed with proposed brand IEC Credit for
future planned UK consumer loans. IEC plans to soon rename
its company subsidiaries in line with the Mr. Amazing Loans global
brand.
United States Lending Focus & New Potential United States
Business Line
The short-term focus of IEC will be
to maximise lending in the United States in the higher margin
states of Georgia, California and Nevada, until lending can
potentially commence in the UK, subject to FCA authorisation. IEC
is also investigating opportunities to generate additional revenue
streams by expanding its reach through new partnerships and
licencing its intellectual property. Examples of potential
companies for licensing and partnerships include medical service
providers, educational institutions, retailers and lower margin
lenders.
Termination of Spain Implementation
Agreement
Further to the announcement of 5
March 2024, IEC has terminated its Spain Implementation Agreement
with Spain Co. IEC will no longer pursue any Spain opportunities
and will voluntarily dissolve its dormant wholly owned United
States subsidiary MRAL Spain Corporation by the end of June 2024.
MRAL Spain Corporation did not commence any operations and has no
assets or liabilities. IEC will focus solely on the fully regulated
United States and United Kingdom consumer finance markets with
maximum consumer finance interest rates of 59.9% per annum.
Capitalised terms used in this paragraph shall,
unless otherwise defined, have the same meanings as set out in the
Company's announcement of 5 March 2024.
About IEC
IEC is an experienced regulated
licensed lender under the corporate entity Investment Evolution
Corporation and consumer brand Mr. Amazing Loans in the United
States with state consumer lending licenses/certificates of
authority in the 6 states of California, Florida, Georgia,
Illinois, Nevada and New Jersey and an established track-record of
regulatory compliance for over 13 years. IEC plans to expand its
United States lending model to the United Kingdom market in due
course by providing £2,000 to £10,000 online personal loans with
fixed affordable repayments, subject to the
receipt of all necessary authorisations and permits.
This announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation and
the Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents
of this announcement.
Enquiries:
Investment Evolution Credit plc
|
|
|
Paul Mathieson
Chairman & CEO
|
iec@investmentevolution.com
|
|
|
|
|
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (IEC AQSE Corporate
Adviser)
|
|
|
Ludovico Lazzaretti
|
+44 (0) 20 7213 0880
|
|
Jo Turner
|
|
|
|
|
Axis Capital Markets Limited (IEC Corporate
Broker)
|
|
Ben Tadd
|
+44 (0) 20
3026 0449
|
Lewis Jones
|
|
For
more information please visit: www.investmentevolution.com/investors
Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this
announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the
Company's current expectations, estimates, and projections about
its industry; its beliefs; and assumptions. Words such as
'anticipates,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,'
'estimates,' and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These statements are not a guarantee of
future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the
Company's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in
the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions security
holders and prospective security holders not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the
view of the Company only as of the date of this announcement. The
forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to
events as of the date on which the statements are made. The Company
will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions
or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events,
circumstances, or unanticipated events occurring after the date of
this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate
regulatory authority.