OREANDA-NEWS. July 16, 2015. Orchard Funding Group is delighted to announce that its subsidiary Bexhill UK Limited has been granted full Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") permission to conduct business as a consumer credit lender and credit broker. Orchard Funding Group is considered the first insurance premium finance lender and professional fee funder in the UK to obtain full FCA consumer lending permissions.

FCA permission follows on from the Company's recent flotation on the London Stock Exchange earlier this month and together they reflect the past success of the business and the growing reputation and potential of the Company going forward. Trust is a key component of doing business and for those companies from the insurance sector or the professions sector looking for a finance provider; the Directors believe that the FCA permission will be a key point of differentiation.

Orchard Funding Group is also delighted to announce that its subsidiary Bexhill UK Limited has become a consumer credit Principal - Appointed Representative, considered the first in the UK to obtain this status. This will enable credit brokers of unsecured credit to avoid the expense and burden of direct FCA regulation by becoming an Appointed Representative of Bexhill UK Limited. Bexhill UK Limited can now offer this facility to unsecured credit brokers in the UK and intends to market this service to enable them to take advantage of Bexhill's Appointed Representative Network.

Ravi Takhar, Chief Executive Officer of Orchard Funding Group stated, "We are very pleased to receive the great news of Bexhill UK's obtaining full FCA permission for consumer credit lending and consumer credit brokerage. We are also delighted to become one of the first consumer credit Principal-Appointed Representative in the UK and hope to provide assistance to consumer credit brokers by helping with the burden of FCA regulation. July has been a great for us with the combination of achieving both a London Stock Exchange listing and full FCA permission - it could not have been a better month."