After being closed down for peer to peer loans since July, Zopa has reached an agreement to re-open in Italy in September. Loans already issued were being serviced but no new ones were made. What makes this interesting is what caused the shut down. It wasn’t the peer-to-peer platform, or unregulated securities as in many other places—but the holding accounts where funds were held between being deposited and being applied to the fully-funded loan.
Because these “transit lender accounts” were aggregated they resulted in a sum warranting regulation by the Italian government.
Now Zopa will establish separate accounts for each lender, and re-developing their system to accommodate. They expect to be back online at the beginning of September.
Jessica Ward is a freelance writer from Seattle. You can also read her posts on www.debtkid.com and www.pennywisefamily.blogspot.com.
