Wells Fargo has lifted a ban on its employees using their own money to make loans on peer-to-peer platforms, in a sudden U-turn in internal policy.
Wells Fargo had imposed the ban in February, after claiming that employees making loans on P2P platforms posed a conflict of interests with the bank’s own lending operations.
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However, America’s biggest bank by market value has now lifted the ban after saying loans made by staff were "not inconsistent with its code of ethics."
Wells Fargo said: "The original guidance given to team members was based on investing in the equity of a P2P lending company.
"The P2P market is not uniform and is evolving and expanding rapidly. We will continue to review our guidance as the market evolves."
In what seems to mark a trend of banks adopting a less hostile stance towards P2P, the news came just a few days after Westpac announced it had bought a A$5m ($4.5m) stake in P2P lender SocietyOne.
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By GlobalDataThe Aussie lender is the most recent in a series of traditional banks to buy stakes in P2P platforms – earlier this month Barclays Africa acquired a 49% stake in South African marketplace RainFin.
Related articles:
Westpac acquires $5m equity stake in Sydney’s P2P lender SocietyOne
Barclays Africa acquires 49% stake in South African P2P lender RainFin
UK government increases contribution to businesses through P2P platform
