Fraud Risk High For Europe’s Direct Lenders, Warns Park Square

Fraud is a major and underreported problem for Europe’s fast-growing direct lending industry, according to a senior executive at one of the largest firms in the sector.

Speaking at a conference in Berlin on Tuesday, Robin Doumar, managing partner of Park Square Capital LLP, told delegates that the private credit business has yet to acknowledge the scale of the issue.

“No one says it’s fraud. ‘Oh it’s some irregularity, there was some problem and a subsidiary didn’t quite have the right numbers.’” said Doumar, whose alternative credit investment company manages around $10 billion in assets. “It’s never headlined fraud, ...