www.bnnbloomberg.ca Open in urlscan Pro
23.53.40.184  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Skip to main content
Sections
InvestingMarketsVideoShowsLive
Sign In
Sign In

 * Markets
    * TSX
    * Venture
    * S&P 500
    * NASDAQ
    * DOW
    * Currencies
    * Oil
    * Gold
    * Crypto

 * Investing
    * Commodities
    * Opinion
    * Cannabis
    * Personal Finance
    * ETFs

 * Video
    * Shows
    * Live
    * Investing
    * Company News
    * Commodities
    * Real Estate
    * International
    * Economics
    * Technology
    * Personal Finance
    * Crypto
    * ETFs

 * Business
    * Company News
    * Economics
    * Real Estate
    * Politics
    * Technology
    * International

 * Newsletters
 * Podcasts
 * Team
 * CorpVOD
 * 

BREAKING NEWS: BoC cuts key interest rate by 50 bps to 3.25%






ADVERTISEMENT



International


HSBC RAISED FRAUD ALARM LEADING TO COLLAPSE OF FINTECH STENN

By Donal Griffin and Lucca de Paoli
December 10, 2024 at 7:00AM EST

(Bloomberg) -- A finance firm backed by several influential Wall Street
investors collapsed last week after HSBC Holdings Plc discovered some of the
company’s transactions may have been fraudulent.  

The UK operating companies of Stenn Technologies, which said it was valued at
$900 million in 2022, were placed into administration on Dec. 4. The filing came
after a unit of HSBC became concerned about potential irregularities it
discovered in some of the firm’s transactions, according to people familiar with
the matter, who asked not to be identified while discussing non-public issues.

Stenn’s founder and chief executive officer, Greg Karpovsky, left the country
last week, according to some of the people familiar with the matter. He attended
an all-company call last Wednesday via video link but his location was unclear
to employees, some of the people said. 

A spokesperson for HSBC declined to comment, while Karpovsky did not respond to
LinkedIn messages requesting comment. A spokesperson for Interpath, whose staff
were appointed as Stenn’s administrators last week, declined to comment beyond
an earlier statement on the appointment. 

Launched in 2015, Stenn offered funding to small businesses by acquiring bills
they were owed, known as invoice financing. The London-based firm attracted a
number of well-heeled backers: Centerbridge Partners LP invested $50 million
into the company in a funding round in 2022, pushing the company’s valuation to
near unicorn status, according to a press release at the time. 

A spokesperson for Centerbridge, the $38-billion investment giant led by
co-founder Jeffrey Aronson, didn’t immediately comment.

Citigroup Inc. began working with Stenn in 2022 to finance businesses throughout
supply chains, while senior lenders that have participated in securitization
programs the firm used to fund its lending include Barclays Plc, Natixis and
Crayhill Capital Management LP, according to press releases issued by Stenn in
recent years. 

Spokespeople for Citigroup, Crayhill and Barclays declined to comment. A
spokesperson for Natixis didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

HSBC Innovation Bank, formerly Silicon Valley Bank’s UK arm, provided Stenn with
a revolving credit facility, according to documents filed at Companies House. 

Total liabilities at Stenn Assets UK Ltd., one of the companies in
administration, were $721 million at the end of December 2023, a filing shows.
That firm reported a pretax profit of $64 million last year, according to the
filing.

Stenn’s website said that it had financed more than 800 businesses with over $20
billion. It was named as one of CNBC’s top 250 global fintech companies in
July. 

Andrey Gurdzhibek, Stenn’s chief operations officer, said in a LinkedIn message
he is cooperating fully with the administrators and wasn’t aware of or involved
in any wrongdoing. Chief Financial Officer Chris Rigby said he is “fully
focused” on assisting the administration and declined to comment further.  

(Updates with responses from executives, banks, size of company from tenth
paragraph.)

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.




TOP STORIES


BOC DELIVERS JUMBO INTEREST RATE CUT, SIGNALS SLOWER PACE OF CUTS MOVING FORWARD

December 11, 2024 at 7:19AM EST


TENSIONS RISING BETWEEN CANADA POST, UNION AS STRIKE NEARS FOUR-WEEK MARK

December 11, 2024 at 7:35AM EST


TEXT OF THE BANK OF CANADA'S LATEST INTEREST RATE DECISION

December 11, 2024 at 10:17AM EST


ROOTS SEES ‘POSITIVE MOMENTUM’ IN EARLY DAYS OF SHORTER HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON

December 11, 2024 at 7:59AM EST


U.S. INFLATION TICKED UP LAST MONTH BUT PRICE PRESSURES REMAIN FAR BELOW THEIR
PEAK

December 11, 2024 at 8:54AM EST


TRUDEAU SET TO SPEAK WITH PREMIERS TO TACKLE TRUMP’S TARIFF PLAN

December 11, 2024 at 7:39AM EST


TOP VIDEOS

Video


BNN BLOOMBERG

July 09, 2024 at 6:00AM EDT
Video


BOC CUTS KEY RATE 50 BPS TO 3.25%

December 11, 2024 at 9:50AM EST
Video


INVESTORS CONTINUE TO DIGEST LATEST U.S. CPI DATA

December 11, 2024 at 9:35AM EST
Video


BNN BLOOMBERG'S MID-MORNING MARKET UPDATE: DEC. 11, 2024

December 11, 2024 at 9:30AM EST
Video


MARKETS WIDELY EXPECT A 50 BPS RATE CUT FROM BOC

December 11, 2024 at 9:20AM EST
Video


U.S. PACE OF INFLATION ROSE IN NOVEMBER

December 11, 2024 at 9:10AM EST


EDITOR'S PICKS


LOONIE COULD FALL FURTHER AMID WIDENING INTEREST RATE GAP: FX STRATEGIST

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


4 TAX-SAVING DATES FOR INVESTORS TO MARK ON THEIR 2025 CALENDARS: JACKSON

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


FOR ELON MUSK, BROMANCE WITH DONALD TRUMP IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS — FOR NOW:
PORTFOLIO MANAGER

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


RESTRICTIVE RATES ‘NO LONGER’ NEEDED, EXPECT 50-BPS CUT FROM BOC: ECONOMIST

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


BANK OF CANADA LIKELY TO CUT 50 BPS, SLOW THE PACE IN 2025: BERMAN

ADVERTISEMENT


NewslettersFAQChannel GuideTeam

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twitter feed

©2024 BellMedia All Rights Reserved


ACCESSIBILITY & FEEDBACK

 * BCE AccessibilityOpens in new window
 * Contact Us


ABOUT BELL MEDIA

 * Bell Privacy PolicyOpens in new window
 * Political Ads RegistryOpens in new window
 * Terms & ConditionsOpens in new window


OTHER BRANDS

 * CTVNews.caOpens in new window
 * CP24.comOpens in new window
 * TSN.caOpens in new window


AUTRES MARQUES

 * Noovo.infoOpens in new window
 * Noovomoi.caOpens in new window
 * RDS.caOpens in new window


search by queryly Advanced Search