A £2.4B UK bridging book was pledged twice — MFS fell with a £1.3B hole

Market Financial Solutions (MFS) was a UK bridging and buy-to-let mortgage lender with a loan book estimated at over £2.4 billion, partly secured on high-end London property. It was founded and owned by Paresh Raja and his wife, and funded by banks and private credit funds — the money flowed from institutions to Raja-owned intermediary companies, which lent it to MFS, which lent it on to borrowers.

MFS entered insolvency on 25 February 2026, after Raja-linked intermediaries Zircon Bridging and Amber Bridging collapsed. Administrators from AlixPartners reported a £1.3 billion gap between what creditors were owed and the collateral — alleging the same properties had been pledged to two or more lenders at once, and that some 'independent' borrowers were connected to Raja, sharing MFS's registered address and accountancy firm. On 18 March 2026 London and Dubai courts granted a worldwide freezing order up to £1.3 billion and a travel ban against Raja, who denies any intent to defraud.

The hole reached most of the institutions backing the book. HSBC took a $400 million impairment on an arrangement with Apollo's Atlas SP unit; Santander carried $267 million, Barclays £228 million, Elliott £200 million, Wells Fargo £143 million, Jefferies about £103 million, Avenue Capital £98 million and Castlelake £70 million. One lender in the £13.4 billion UK bridging market cost global balance sheets over a billion dollars.