Speaking during a lender panel at the Brightstar Specialist Lending Expo 2026 at the London Stadium, Joshua Elash, chief executive of MT Finance, disputed the belief that the collapse of Market Financial Solutions pointed to systemic issues in the sector, but said it was concerning that the response had led to a reduced appetite to fund lenders.
Elash said: “Is there a systemic risk that this alleged specific type of activity is occurring or is prevalent? No, I don’t believe that there is.”
He added: “Where does the real risk lie off the back of this? It’s the impact it has on the capital markets, and what we’ve seen is that there’s a tightening of credit appetite.”
Elash said some major institutions had either withdrawn or significantly reduced their appetite to fund specialist lenders, which could have a greater impact on smaller firms without diversified sources of capital.
He added: “Smaller lenders, or even medium-sized lenders who don’t have diversified capital stacks, are going to now really struggle to expand their capital stacks.”
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Further, lenders reliant on a single funder could also find themselves more exposed to changes in that funder’s requirements, including demands to reduce loan to values (LTVs).
“It’s also going to be harder for new entrants to come and raise capital funding from the capital markets because people are scared,” he added.
David Whittaker, chief executive of Keystone Property Finance, said lenders had also had to strengthen systems and processes following events surrounding Market Financial Solutions.
He said greater information sharing and checks across different funding arrangements were now necessary, with lenders having to demonstrate stronger oversight of assets and data.
Whittaker said: “If you’re an originating lender with your own balance sheet or dependent on other institutional counterparties, you’ve got to tighten up your systems.”
However, he warned that the additional checks and systems being introduced came at a cost, adding: “There’s a cost for all this, and the consumer, be it a buy-to-let landlord or the consumer, ultimately always pays.”
