RE: Here the piece I read...2 Sep 2020 00:13
11/08/20
ME Group Holdings Ltd
[ME Group or the Company]
ME Group has announced its second senior hire in as many weeks.
Experienced fintech credit professional Rob Cottingham, is to join the Group’s ME Funding division as Chief Credit Officer (CCO), a new role that reports to Bruce Walker, who recently joined the business as Executive Chairman (i).
ME Group CEO Rob Cooper said Cottingham’s appointment marks the next stage in the Group’s long-term strategy to become the platform of choice for UK consumer litigation funding.
Cottingham will take responsibility for credit risk and will play a crucial role in the Credit Committee that makes decisions on how ME Funding allocates the litigation funding it manages to ensure it is funding the right types of legal cases and law firms.
Rob Cooper said: “Rob has a stellar CV in financial services and fintech, and adds considerably to the strength of our senior team given his substantial experience in the consumer litigation funding space. We are delighted to have secured his services having competed against major financial services institutions to do so, and expect to recruit more talent into the credit team as the funding business gathers pace.”
He explained that the investment pipeline for ME Funding is strong and growing. “International investors are interested in talking to us about opportunities in the UK litigation finance market. The opportunity for them is largely uncorrelated to normal economic cycles, and using our LegalTech we are able to not only reduce risk in the credit decision, but also give a more consistent and accurate decision on realisation value and duration of the underlying litigation asset. Our technology is also integrated with the law firms who represent the claimant, this coupled with our in-house claim expertise means we can have proper oversight and management of the credit risk during the litigation process. It is this end-to-end proposition that makes ME Group the right partner for credit investors wanting to access the UK consumer litigation market. ”
Cooper added: “The management and governance of ME Funding is now fully separated from the rest of ME Group in order to ensure its independence. Strong governance is essential to attract investors, and we have been fully focused on creating clear lines of sight between ME Funding and the rest of the Group.”
Other parts of ME Group include its LegalTech division, which enables law firms handling complex consumer disputes to analyse and validate the prospects of disputes, and legal outsourcing, which provides operational capacity and expertise to law firms providing dispute resolution to consumers.
Rob Cottingham said: “ME Group is poised to become a leading player in the litigation finance sector in the UK, with a compelling proposition for investors in this relatively new UK asset class. I am looking forward to playing my part in delivering the Group’s ambitious vision and strategy.”
Sign In
Follow the stocks
