THE CENTRAL BANK of Ireland has published warning notices against four unauthorised firms offering loans to people.

These firms holding no authorisation from the Central Bank are:

• The Loans Tree
• Vera Loans
• Leading Lends
• Direct Lends

The Central Bank said that three of the above unauthorised firms had cloned the details – the name, registered address and Financial Conduct Authority registration number – of other regulated firms.

The Loan Tree, which is no longer operational, used the detail of two firms which are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom.

Leading Lones and Direct Lends, which are advertising loans on their website, also cloned the FCA registration details of firms authorised by the FCA in the UK. 

The Central Bank noted that there is “no connection whatsoever” between the unauthorised entities and the FCA authorised firms whose details have been cloned.

It’s a criminal offence for an unauthorised firm to provide financial services in Ireland that would require Central Bank authorisation.

Consumers should be aware, that if they deal with a firm that is not authorised, they are not eligible for compensation from the Investor Compensation Scheme.

If you want to contact the Central Bank with information about similar firms, you can call: 01 224 4000. This line is also available to the public to check if a firm is authorised.

You can find a full list of unauthorised firms here.