Church of England pulls out of Wonga rescue effort
by Robert Booth, Guardian.
The Church of England has pulled out of an attempt to buy the loan book of the collapsed payday lender Wonga following a week of talks led by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, aimed at protecting the interests of vulnerable borrowers.
The move creates fresh uncertainty for around 200,000 borrowers who could now be forced to pay back their debts at high rates by a commercial lending firm.
Welby said on Friday that the C of E commissioners, who control an £8.3bn investment portfolio, had decided not to participate in any buyout, but the potential investors he has been in talks with are now expected to make a bid for the estimated £400m loan book.
Welby has been engaged all week in a round of meetings and phonecalls with unidentified financial investors and charitable foundations in a bid to put together a consortium that could have ultimately resulted in the creation of an ethical payday lender.
The church said in a statement: “The church understands that confidential approaches may now be made by those interested parties to the administrators of Wonga’s UK loan book. The Church of England will not be party to continuing discussions given their commercially sensitive nature.”
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