IPO no payday for lender

Payday lenders aren’t getting much traction on Wall Street.

Curo Financial, which operates controversial loan operations firms like Speedy Cash that typically target lower-income borrowers, had a middling start to its initial public offering on Thursday, as unresolved regulatory concerns still loom in Washington.

The stock, which priced at the low end of a $14-to-$16 range late Wednesday — raising $93 million — closed Thursday at $14.20, up 1.4 percent.

The Wichita, Kan., lender charges as much as 1 percent a day for some of its loans, which are outlawed in 15 states and Washington, DC.

The tepid response from investors comes as the leadership at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which regulates payday lenders, is still unresolved after a tiff between a legacy bureaucrat and President Trump.

The CFPB has issued harsh rules against payday lenders that would curb their issuance of repeated loans to cash-strapped customers.

But Trump recently won court approval to install an interim boss, who is guiding the CFPB in a less aggressive direction.

“Even though the CFPB Rule has been approved as a final rule, it is possible that the CFPB Rule will not become effective in its current form,” Curo told investors in a regulatory filing late last month.