Moneylenders Act 2008 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 1 · Preliminary
3. Persons presumed to be moneylenders
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Anyone who lends money in return for a larger sum being repaid is presumed to be a moneylender, unless proved otherwise. This does not apply to an excluded moneylender.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
Any person, other than an excluded moneylender, who lends a sum of money in consideration of a larger sum being repaid is presumed, until the contrary is proved, to be a moneylender.
excluded moneylender
“excluded moneylender” means —(a)any body corporate, incorporated or empowered by an Act of Parliament to lend money in accordance with that Act;(b)any person licensed, approved, registered or otherwise regulated by the Authority under any other written law, to the extent that the person is permitted or authorised to lend money or is not prohibited from lending money under that other written law;(c)any society registered as a credit society under the Co‑operative Societies Act 1979;(d)any pawnbroker licensed under the Pawnbrokers Act 2015;(e)any person who —(i)lends money solely to the person’s employees as a benefit of employment;(ii)lends money solely to accredited investors within the meaning of section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act 2001;(iii)lends money solely to —(A)corporations;(B)limited liability partnerships;(C)trustees or trustee-managers (as the case may be) of business trusts for the purposes of the business trusts;(D)trustees of real estate investment trusts for the purposes of the real estate investment trusts,or who carries on any combination of such activities or services; or(f)any person carrying on any business not having for its primary object the lending of money in the course of which and for the purposes of which the person lends money;