Premier League moves to ban unregulated lending

Lyndon Lloyd Friday, 18 November, 2016 3comments | Jump to most recent

Starting in 2018, clubs will only be able to take out loans from transparent, regulated lenders as the league seeks to limit the influence of more shadowy, off-shore entities.

The move to restrict borrowing only to lenders approved by the Financial Conduct Authority would preclude clubs from taking money from funds like Vibrac Corp who have funded the likes of Everton, West Ham, Southampton and clubs in Spain and Germany. Vibrac's location in the British Virgin Islands allowed the identity of their backers to remain undisclosed.

“[The Premier League] want to deal with greater transparency in terms of the people that are lending money to their clubs,” said Martin Blake, a London-based lawyer who, according to Bloomberg, advises both clubs and lenders.

“There is a perception that some of the funds that are lending aren't as transparent as they would like.”

Everton have had a revolving line of credit, first with Vibrac and then with Rights and Media Funding (itself linked to Mousehold Limited who share a BVI address with Vibrac), from which the club has borrowed funds secured against future television revenue to fund transfers and player salaries for the past few seasons.

The Everton Shareholders Association says that it is their information that the club's financial accounts for 2015-16 will be released within the next two weeks, followed by the scheduling of the next AGM.

Reader Comments (3)

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Liam Reilly
1 Posted 19/11/2016 at 08:03:10

Whilst I'm no advocate of these types of lending vehicles, it does mean that if the Banks refuse to lend or set unreasonably high rates, then this could push more clubs into administration. It needs tight regulation.

It will be interesting to see the club's debts in the latest financials.

Paul Burns
2 Posted 23/11/2016 at 10:15:51

I thought we'd been informed that we were now debt free.

Phil Walling
3 Posted 23/11/2016 at 10:28:09

What the League would 'like to see' and how clubs will respond are entirely different matters. Moshiri MAY have cleared Everton's debts in respect of these shadowy lenders but we were led to believe that such an action would invoke massive penalties which few clubs could afford.

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