Britain's motor finance industry is in crisis – with banks bracing for billions in payouts

cnbc.com:

Britain's motor finance industry is in disarray, with analysts warning of worst-case scenarios similar in magnitude to the country's costliest consumer banking scandal.

The burgeoning crisis stems back to a landmark judgement from the U.K.'s Court of Appeal in late October, when the court ruled it was unlawful for car dealers to receive bonuses from banks providing motor finance — without getting the customer's informed consent.

The decision caught many in the motor finance industry off guard and appears to have paved the way for a multi-billion-pound redress scheme to compensate consumers.

It has prompted comparisons to Britain's payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal, which was estimated to have cost banks more than £50 billion ($63.8 billion) and is regarded as the biggest mis-selling scandal in the country's financial services history.

Britain's Financial Conduct Authority, the country's financial watchdog, said on Wednesday that it will write to the Supreme Court to expedite a decision over whether to give lenders the green light to appeal the ruling.

The FCA, which noted that car financing groups were likely to have received a surge in complaints in recent weeks, said that it would consider intervening «to share its expertise» if permission to appeal is granted.

It urged motor finance groups to consider setting aside financial provisions to resolve the high volume of complaints.

Niklas Kammer, equity analyst at Morningstar, said Britain's banks have been left in «in limbo» since the Oct. 25 court ruling, with Lloyds thought to be the most at risk through its Black Horse business. Barclays also has some exposure, Kammer said, «but meaningfully less.»

«I think it is fair to say that the ruling by the Court of