Is Market Financial Solutions (MFS) a canary or a cockroach? Possibly both. The niche Mayfair-based mortgage company founded by Paresh Raja and specialising in bridging loans, which was put into administration in February, has become the leitmotif of increasing unease in the private-credit market, which some claim is a $2 trillion time-bomb.
Creditors – including Barclays, Jefferies, Wells Fargo and Apollo's structured credit arm, Atlas SP Partners – are facing an “alleged shortfall” of £1.3 billion and are “scrambling to figure out what their collateral is actually worth amid allegations of double-pledging”, says the Financial Times. The fear is that MFS might be the harbinger of more blow-ups to come.
Article continues belowTry 6 free issues of MoneyWeek today
Get unparalleled financial insight, analysis and expert opinion you can profit from.
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
“Once again, some of Wall Street's most sophisticated players” – already scarred by the collapse of First Brands and Tricolor in the US last year – “missed the warning signs”, says The Wall Street Journal. Even a preliminary delve into MFS's business might have raised concerns.
The firm backed dozens of property deals linked to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, a former land minister in Bangladesh who, along with family members, built a sprawling $295 million property portfolio from 1992 until August 2024, when the government of Sheikh Hasina collapsed amid student protests. In June 2025, the UK's National Crime Agency froze 342 properties linked to Chowdhury, worth about £185 million, as part of “an ongoing civil investigation”.
Creditor allegations against Paresh Raja – who created a complicated web of entities, many registered under the names of Greek and Roman gods, to house the loans he had secured using MFS's loan book as collateral – paint “a damning picture” of his self-described “re-financing merry-go-round”, says the FT. There are allegations that eight companies that were supposedly “genuine borrowers” from MFS were actually “closely connected” to the owner. It has emerged that some listed directors and shareholders of corporate borrowers also held positions at MFS's accountants.
Who is Paresh Raja?
The details of Paresh Raja's biography are thin. He worked in consultancy before launching MFS in 2006 to fill a gap in the market by offering “bespoke loans” and financing – covering everything from buy-to-let mortgages, to refurbishments and conversions. Two years in, the global credit crunch hit, but that proved a catalyst for growth. “It suddenly became very difficult to get finance from mainstream lenders” and property investors “appreciated the utility of the specialist market”, recalled Raja. He embraced clients rejected by high-street banks. “We look for reasons to issue a loan, rather than finding excuses not to.”
For all Paresh Raja's efforts to raise its profile, the firm remained “barely known outside its corner of finance”, says Bloomberg. In December, employees descended on the five-star Peninsula Hotel for a lavish black-tie Christmas event. It turned out to be a last hurrah. Alarmed by events in the US, MFS's creditors instigated extra checks on their loan books. In January, Barclays froze MFS's accounts, triggering the unravelling that prompted the firm's collapse. In 2025, Paresh Raja was named “Disruptor of the Year” by one media group. That now sounds distinctly ironic.
This article was first published in MoneyWeek's magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.