Iwoca closes bumper debt facility as sale speculation mounts Fintech Small business lender Iwoca has inked a new £250m debt facility that will help it ramp up its lending power just days after it emerged it had instructed bankers to launch a sale process valuing it at north of £1bn. The fintech closed the credit line from a household name bank and private credit giant [...]
Federal Reserve orders Oaknorth to set up UK holding firm Regulation Digital bank Oaknorth has been ordered by the US financial watchdog to switch its domicile to the UK to get the green light on its takeover of a Michigan-based bank. The small business lender is exploring plans to establish a new UK holding company as a way to seal the deal on its acquisition of [...]
Morning Wire Awards 2026: Meet the Finalists Business And the nominees are…. Personality of the Year Greg Jackson CBE The entrepreneur and CEO of Octopus Energy has become one of the UK’s most prominent business leaders, known for his straight talking and punchy views across a range of topics including UK entrepreneurship, the business environment, capital markets and, of course, energy. In August [...]
Oaknorth delays net zero goal as US expansion fuels lending boom March 17, 2026 UK fintech Oaknorth has slapped a ten year delay on its ambition to be a net zero bank as the firm’s expansion across the Atlantic picked up pace. The small business lender said it expects to meet net zero commitments by 2045, as opposed to previous guidance of 2035 set four years ago. Oaknorth said [...]
London Stock Exchange confirms first firm on Pisces framework February 20, 2026 A vehicle containing shares in a £1.3bn venture capital firm that backs tech spin-outs from Oxford University will be the first organisation to use the new Pisces private stock market, the London Stock Exchange has said. The UK’s flagship capital markets operator confirmed that shares in Oxford Science Enterprises, an early-stage VC fund best known [...]
Exclusive: Octopus to swerve new private stock exchange February 19, 2026 Octopus Energy will not join the delayed Pisces private stock market when it launches, its boss Greg Jackson has said, in a sign the utilities giant is distancing itself from the project after attending an event for interested companies last summer. Jackson told Morning Wire that his multi-billion-pound firm had “no plans” to trade its [...]
UK bank ramps up fight for savers after rebrand January 22, 2026 The battle to bank Britain’s savers has ramped up with the arrival of a new name, set to challenge ‘easy access’ incumbents such as JP Morgan’s Chase, Goldman Sachs’ Marcus and fintechs like Oaknorth. The former UK arm of Jamaica National Group, previously dubbed JN Bank UK, has revamped its operations after being sold in [...]
Revolut and LSEG join growing list of OpenAI customers December 3, 2025 Fintech juggernaut Revolut has joined a host of banking giants in leveraging OpenAI tech to beef up their financial crime protections. The digital bank is one of the latest to partner with the ChatGPT maker as it seeks to enhance its fincrime agent and customer services. The $75bn fintech is also using OpenAI’s large language [...]
Adair Turner: Crypto? It’s like buying tulips in 1635 November 7, 2025 As chair of the FSA at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, Adair Turner knows all about the anatomy of a global crash. Over 15 years on, exuberance in AI and opaque private credit markets have set warning systems flashing. Ali Lyon, spoke to the arch-technocrat to see whether the fears are justified, and [...]
Allica Bank makes major acquisition as it eyes £1bn SME lending goal October 22, 2025 Allica Bank is set to announce a fresh acquisition as the firm looks to beef up its lending capacity for small businesses, Morning Wire can reveal. The digital bank has snapped up London-based fintech Kriya, which specialises in embedded finance and business loans. The takeover, set to be announced on Wednesday, marks Allica’s third acquisition [...]