General Counsel UK
Martin Cook is General Counsel at Funding Circle UK. Funding Circle is the world’s leading direct lending platform for small business finance. Set up in 2010, investors have lent £2.5 billion to 28,000 businesses across the UK, US and Europe (Feb 2017). In the UK, lending through Funding Circle has contributed £2.7 billion to the economy and supported the creation of 50,000 new jobs. Funding Circle loans are funded by a diverse array of investors including more than 50,000 individuals, local and national government, financial institutions, and the first single platform direct lending fund - Funding Circle SME Income Fund (FCIF). In addition to his UK business leadership role, Martin is responsible for legal and regulatory matters and is heavily involved in governmental affairs activity. Prior to Funding Circle, Martin focused on corporate, commercial and IP work in the technology, telecoms and financial services sectors at the law firms Slaughter and May (in London, Hong Kong and Brussels) and Travers Smith, as well as in house roles focused on innovation and FinTech. Martin is a member of the FinTech Delivery Panel, an industry body appointed by HM Treasury and working with TechCityUK on driving the growth of the UK's FinTech scene.
