Posted by Last week, I reported that the Latvian central bank had granted SIA IBC Invest an investment firm license. However, my conclusion that this meant Esketit was being placed on a regulated foundation was incorrect. Instead, a second, parallel platform owned by the same shareholders appears to be emerging.
According to a report by Latvian business newspaper Dienas Bizness, the license granted to IBC Invest is connected to a new P2P platform called Goodeve.
The shareholders are reportedly Davis Barons and Matiss Ansviesulis, the same individuals with the same ownership split as at Esketit. The new platform’s management team also consists largely of current Esketit employees. These include Ieva Narbute as CEO, Zane Ziedone as Head of Legal, and Edgars Zariņš as Director of Finance and Risk Management.
According to the report, Goodeve plans to launch later this year, initially focusing on consumer loans. Corporate bonds and other niche segments are expected to be added at a later stage.