OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

[righty]

"no internal controls" Duh! :tinysmile_aha_t: Like we didn't already know

Cattles suspends three directors - AOL Money

[Curlyben]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

Everyone say, "Oh dear what a shame"

[Tools]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

Cattles suspends three directors

posted : 1 HOUR 26 MINUTES AGO comments : 0



Last Updated: Tuesday, 03 March 2009, 12:58 GMT
- Search: Cattle suspend directors






Sub-prime lender Cattles said it had suspended three directors after it emerged bad debt charges were likely to be higher than first thought.
The company, which operates as Welcome Finance, said it believed a "breakdown in internal controls" led to its impairment policies being applied incorrectly.
As a result of a review being carried out by Deloitte, Cattles said 2008 profits were likely to be substantially lower than its expectations on February 20, when it first warned of potential problems with bad debt provisions.
The second profits warning in a fortnight caused shares in the company to tumble another 55%. It warned the situation was likely to require it to enter into talks with its banks and bondholders, while brokers at Numis fear the firm will breach its banking covenants.


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• Cattles

Cattles chief executive David Postings has taken direct control of Welcome Financial Services.
John Blake, managing director, Peter Miller, finance director, and Mick Belcher, operations director of Welcome Financial Services, have been suspended pending the outcome of a separate inquiry which is also being conducted by Deloitte.
Cattles annual results, which were due for release last week, have been delayed pending the review of its impairment policies.
It is the latest blow to the company, which last month conceded defeat in its long-running attempt to secure a licence for banking deposits.
Cattles, which is based in Batley, west Yorkshire, also said recently it was axing 1,000 jobs, including through the closure of an office in Hull, as it shrinks the business in line with reduced business volumes.
Cattles is currently in discussions with its lenders about the renewal of the group's bank facilities. The company, which serves individuals who may not have access to mainstream lending, is due to provide a progress report by the end of the first quarter of this year.

[TANZARELLI]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

Naughty naughty, yeah read this here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/art...own-probe.html

[LuggerBugs]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

Singing...

"Going dowwwn

In a blaze of bad publicityyyyy."

:heh:

[natweststaffmember]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance


Ananova: RBS concerns over further losses Royal Bank of Scotland could lose as much as £500 million through its exposure to troubled consumer loans firm Cattles, it has benn reported.
RBS is understood to be the lead lender to Cattles, which has warned of significant losses following revelations of accounting errors.
The bank still hopes to recover the money according to the Sunday Telegraph, but experts believe the company is unlikely to be able to meet its debt obligations.
It is understood that RBS, which is largely State owned, has the largest slice of Cattles' bank debt and its share is now expected to be passed on to the taxpayer.
A spokesman for RBS said he was not able to comment on the situation.
Other companies in the 22-bank consortium of Cattles' lenders are thought to include HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group.
Cattles serves individuals who may not have access to mainstream lending.
The firm, which trades as Welcome Finance, had £2.6 billion of borrowings when it posted its last trading figures in December.
But the sub-prime lender is understood to be seeking waivers from its banks after admitting it may be in breach of borrowing covenants.
Cattles suspended another three directors earlier this month after admitting a "breakdown in internal controls" had led to accounting policies on bad loans being applied incorrectly.


Source: Ananova - RBS concerns over further losses

[righty]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

[dogtired]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

"no internal controls" Duh! :tinysmile_aha_t: Like we didn't already know

Cattles suspends three directors - AOL Money

They have now sacked them!!!
Now seems as they have had an "extension" to December what ******* let them do that?
Anyway as a new member I have one quesiton to ask,
Had a complaint with the ombudsman and after almost a year got a letter to say that Welcome had "agreed" to a settlement on the ppi, no amount on the letter but am still waitng for the ombudsman to come back to me on the issue that the whole thing is now un-enforeable.
When I got a subject access it had a different account no and address and head office in Nottingham "cannot locate" these documents. I was under the impression that they oculd not enforce the loan if this was the case?

[TANZARELLI]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

Do you have your own thread on here dogtired?

If so pop a link and we can discuss this further with you.

Thanks

Tanz

[dogtired]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

Do you have your own thread on here dogtired?

If so pop a link and we can discuss this further with you.

Thanks

Tanz

"no internal controls" Duh! :tinysmile_aha_t: Like we didn't already know

Cattles suspends three directors - AOL Money

They have now sacked them!!!
Now seems as they have had an "extension" to December what ******* let them do that?
Anyway as a new member I have one quesiton to ask,
Had a complaint with the ombudsman and after almost a year got a letter to say that Welcome had "agreed" to a settlement on the ppi, no amount on the letter but am still waitng for the ombudsman to come back to me on the issue that the whole thing is now un-enforeable.
When I got a subject access it had a different account no and address and head office in Nottingham "cannot locate" these documents. I was under the impression that they oculd not enforce the loan if this was the case?
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
No I dont, How do I do that?
do I have to submit my own post?
Only been given till the 28th of july to submit aceptance of PPi from Welcome

[righty]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

I don't know if anyone recalls but 2 Xmas's ago a Penalty Charges member was about to lose her home cos Welcome had taken her to court & where about to seek repossession on a secured loan

This woman had repeatedly told Welcome she knew nothing of the debt but they ploughed on regardless. I became involved & through Andrew Leakey of Stephensons we managed to get eviction stopped at the 11rh hour, Xmas eve to be precise. Welcome finally admitted their mistake & removed their charge ..................... some time later a Welcome accounts manager (with it was alleged a drug habit) based in Manchester was convicted of fraud in that he had set up false accounts and directed the funds to himself

[dogtired]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

This is very interesting!
We moved form Manchester area and since then have had a different account no and on SAR Welcome have been unable to locate any signed documents.
have now had an "offer" for ppi, no idea how much as yet to include £200 for "inconveniance" they only gave us a week to send the form back to the ombudsman but say it may take up to 12 weeks.......

[Sapphire]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

I've been talking to someone who in the last week has been 'let go' from Welcome's offices in Basildon and I'm reliably informed that they are so desperate for money that they are taking offers of around 35-40% of the total owed on their car loans.

[Tools]

Re: OOPS Cattles aka Welcome Finance

Cattles sacks executives over £700m black hole - Scotsman.com Business

Cattles sacks executives over £700m black hole


Published Date: 02 July 2009
By victoria thomson
CATTLES, the owner of the Welcome Finance consumer loans firm, yesterday revealed that it had sacked six senior executives after a probe into accounting irregularities which blew a £700 million hole in the company's balance sheet.

Senior staff including finance director James Corr and chief operating officer Ian Cummine have left following "a breakdown in controls" which resulted in its policies on bad debts being applied incorrectly, the company disclosed.

It is understood this involved deferring and extending repayment terms on under-performing loans to avoid making a loss provision in the accounts.

Cattles uncovered the breakdown in controls in February and warned in April that provisions for 2008 and previous years would be £700m higher than expected.

The six executives have been suspended since March. The Financial Services Authority is understood to have details of the internal probe by Deloitte and Freshfields and to be considering whether to take further action.

Shares in Cattles are suspended after the firm delayed its annual results to resolve the accounting crisis.

The firm is also labouring under looming deadlines on its £2.4 billion debt burden. It must soon make payments to bondholders as well as re-finance £500m in wholesale funding with a bank consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland by 14 July.

Cattles is pushing for a "standstill agreement" which will see these payments suspended while it resolves its future.

In April it announced it would close its Welcome Car Finance car loans business to conserve cash. It is also considering the sale of its invoice financing arm.

Alongside the six suspended executives who have been sacked, Cattles added that the group's treasury and risk director, Mark Collins, is to leave the company immediately.

[Tools]

Re: OOPS Cattles ak Welcome Finance

http://www.financialdirector.co.uk/a...be-pwc-cattles

Watchdog to probe PwC over Cattles audit

Kevin Reed, Accountancy Age, 23 Jul 2009
Watchdog AADB investigates PricewaterhouseCoopers over audit work for troubled lender Cattles
Accountancy's watchdog is investigating PricewaterhouseCoopers over its audit work at troubled personal finance lender Cattles.
The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board is investigating the conduct of PwC and its audit staff in relation to their work as auditors of Cattles, the sub-prime lender which faced an £850m black hole in its accounts.
The scope of the investigation is as follows:
1. The preparation, approval and audit of the financial statements of
Cattles plc and Welcome Financial Services Limited for the year ended
31 December 2007;
2. The preparation, approval and review of the interim financial
statements of Cattles plc for the six months ended 30 June 2008; and
3. Public statements covering the financial position and performance of
Cattles plc and/or Welcome Financial Services Limited between 28
February 2008 and 20 February 2009.
'We will fully cooperate with the AADB investigation and will vigorously defend our work,' PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a statement.
Problems were flagged up at Cattles back in February, which set of a chain of events which saw an independent review by Deloitte. A number of senior finance professionals were then sacked from the group, including outgoing FD James Corr.
Further reading:
The Cattles saga: Timeline
Cattles FDs among sacked six
Ex-Deloitte restructuring expert joins troubled Cattles as interim FD