NatWest provided up to £250 million in funding to consumer lender Amplifi Capital in the years leading up to its collapse, according to company filings, highlighting banks' growing exposure
to non-bank financial institutions as regulators warn of potential risks.
London-based Amplifi, which specialised in unsecured personal loans, entered insolvency in June after struggling to comply with new consumer credit regulations. The company reported total assets of £119 million in its latest available accounts for the year ending March 2024.
A review of corporate filings shows NatWest financed Amplifi indirectly through Castor Financing, a vehicle that funded the lender between 2023 and 2025. The relationship had not previously been reported.
The case underscores the increasing role of major banks in financing non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), a sector that has come under closer scrutiny from regulators concerned about the potential impact of failures on the wider financial system.
The Bank of England is among regulators examining whether the collapse of NBFIs could pose broader financial stability risks.
Amplifi's failure follows the collapse earlier this year of UK mortgage originator Market Financial Solutions, which reportedly owed £1.8 billion, exposing lenders including Barclays and HSBC to significant losses. Photo by Brianboru100, Wikimedia commons.
