‘Conflicts’ claims erupt after Provident adviser swaps sides. The investment bank leading the hostile bid for Provident Financial (PFG) took £4 million in fees from the doorstep lender as a trusted adviser between 2011 and 2018, sparking allegations of a conflict of interest. Ondra, led by former Lehman Brothers banker Michael Tory, describes itself as a firm that is “about our clients, not ourselves”. Its website claims it offers “corporate finance as it used to be” in a way that aims to sustain businesses for “many generations to come”. It was paid a retainer of £250,000 a year and other fees working for Provident. But little more than a year after that contract ended, it embarked on the hostile £1.3 billion bid for Provident by Non-Standard Finance (NSF), an increasingly bitter battle that is one of the most contentious the City has seen in years. NSF chief executive John van Kuffeler used to run PF.
