Funding Circle enlists ex-Lloyds chief to board

One of the largest UK p2p platforms Funding Circle has hired a prominent ex-City chief to its board of directors.

Eric Daniels, the former chief executive officer of Lloyds Banking Group has joined Funding Circle’s board as director.

US-born Daniels was made head of retail banking at Lloyds TSB in 2001. He became chief executive officer in June 2003, and CEO of the wider Lloyds Banking Group in January 2009 after its merger with HBOS. His tenure ended in February in 2011.

His time at the Lloyds coincided with the both the financial crisis as well as the PPI scandal which both rocked the traditional banking world and prompted the formation of p2p platforms such as Funding Circle.

Samir Desai, CEO and founder of Funding Circle said: “When we first launched Funding Circle our vision was to create the infrastructure - similar to a stock exchange or bond market - where individuals, financial institutions and governments could all lend to creditworthy small businesses. Eric’s deep experience and knowledge of global financial services will be integral to us as we continue to work towards fulfilling this vision”.

While Funding Circle is just six years old, Lloyds can lay claim to being the UK’s second oldest bank still in operation as its history goes back to the founding of Bank of Scotland in 1695. The comparison underscores the ongoing trend of alternative finance platforms enlisting highly experience City bankers to oversee their ambitious growth strategies.

Funding Circle also appointed Nomura’s Jeremy Bennett in July. Ratesetter appointed Cyrille Salle de Chou, also from Lloyds, as chief risk officer back in May. In the US, Lending Club has also recently appointed ex-bankers to top jobs.