Wonga founder Errol Damelin quits as company director

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jun/13/wonga-founder-errol-damelin-quits-company-director

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A founder of the payday lender Wonga, Errol Damelin, has quit as a director of the company, just seven months after stepping down as chief executive.

His decision to go leaves the UK's biggest payday lender without a permanent chief executive or chairman, as the industry is poised to enter a period of tighter regulation.

Last week Niall Wass, who was appointed to replace Damelin as chief executive in November 2013, announced he was quitting after spending half a year in the post.

Wonga has come under sustained attack for charging interest rates as high as 5,853% a year. The company, which has been criticised by MPs for "legal loan sharking", will soon be subject to much tougher regulation from the UK's financial regulator. From July the Financial Conduct Authority will restrict the number of times loans can be rolled over or extended, and prevent firms making more than two unsuccessful attempts to take cash from customer's bank accounts.

The payday lending industry, which has been condemned by the archbishop of Canterbury as "morally wrong", has also been criticised by competition authorities, who said earlier this week that lack of competition could be adding as much as £60 to customers' bills.

Wonga said on Friday that Damelin, who co-founded the company in 2006, had indicated in November he wanted to begin an orderly exit from the firm so he could start working on new business ventures. He stepped aside as chief executive at that time and became chairman. "He is now happy that the migration to a senior team suited to running a large and regulated financial services business is well under way and sufficiently advanced for him to step aside," Wonga said in a statement.