UK peer-to-peer lender RateSetter receives FCA regulatory OK

(Reuters) - British peer-to-peer lending platform RateSetter on Tuesday said it had received full regulatory authorisation from the country's Financial Conduct Authority watchdog.

One of Britain's three largest peer-to-peer lenders, in September it withdrew from the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) after revealing it had stepped in to bail out bad loans without disclosing the fact to its investors, contravening the trade body's rules.

Peer-to-peer platforms, which bring together individual borrowers and lenders without a bank being involved, have grown rapidly in Britain since 2015 but are starting to come under regulatory scrutiny.

(Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)