‘Leasing is sometimes caught in the unintended consequences of other regulatory actions’

T

he inevitability of increased regulation for UK lenders will require major planning and resource allocation by asset finance executives, according to Neil Davies, CEO of Close Brothers’ commercial division.

Davies made the comments during a 30-minute interview with Lindsay Town, the CEO of IAA-Advisory, as part of a series of discussions with UK leasing sector executives, that was streamed on 25 March.

During the interview, Davies described asset finance as a huge area of the UK economy that sometimes goes unnoticed, including by the government, so that in framing regulation, “we sometimes get caught in the unintended consequences of other actions.”

Davies added: “Asset finance is a very useful conduit for UK industry – that engine being properly funded in the right way and with the right type of funding.”

Davies and Town also discussed the challenges of forming and maintaining partnerships and joint ventures, what’s being done by the sector to bring in fresh talent, and the fascination versus the reality of pay-per-use models.

The two industry stalwarts also engaged in crystal-ball gazing when they considered the contours of the post-lockdown landscape and what challenges a return to offices by the long-absent workforce might bring for employers.

The discussion was the second in a series of interviews that Lindsay Town will be hosting scheduled into July and are sponsored by LTi Technology Solutions, a US-based global provider of in-the-cloud asset finance technology.

Future events will feature, John Jenkins (CEO of Haydock), Mike Randall (CEO of Simply Asset Finance), Kerry Howells (CEO of Tower Leasing) and Roy Royer (Head of Europe at Somerset Capital).