Thursday 12 February 2015

Troubled Wonga loses another senior director

Wonga, the troubled payday lender, has lost another senior director, according to information received today and documents filed at Companies House.

Justin Hubble, Wonga's General Counsel - the company's most senior legal executive - left the company on 10 February, according to an "automatic reply" email received today. Records at Companies House confirm that Hubble resigned from the board last year during the week before Christmas. Hubble had been at Wonga for less than a year, having previously worked as legal director at Betfair.

This is the latest senior departure from the hapless company, which lost three chief executives in the space of a year during 2014. Former Chief Executive, Tim Weller, spent only five months at the helm before moving on in November. A permanent replacement Chief Executive has still not been named.

Replacing Hubble in the General Counsel role at Wonga is Bill Flynn, who led the legal team at debt management company CapQuest Group. He had previous roles in compliance at GE Capital and at Zurich Group.

It is unclear whether Hubble's departure was related to the October 2014 FCA announcement that Wonga would be required to change its lending practices. Accounts for the financial year ending of December 2013 show that the company's profits have fallen by 53% during that period compared with the previous year.

Wonga has not responded to several requests for further information about Hubble's departure. The company is registered in the UK as WDFC Ltd, company number 06374235, and has a Swiss-based sister company, WDFC SA.

by Marcus Williamson

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