Provident Financial is looking to raise as much as £500m in order to pay potential regulatory fines and strengthen its balance sheet, said reports.

The Daily Telegraph wrote that investment bankers at Cazenove and Barclays were leading discussions with investors, and could act as underwriters on a deal to raise capital.

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This could happen in the form of a rights issue, where new shares are issued to existing shareholders at preferential prices.

The Times reported on Monday that Phillip McLelland, finance director for Provident’s Consumer Credit Division (CCD), would become the latest executive to leave the company.

Provident could not be reached for comment.

CCD is where most of the Provident group’s trouble began last year, when the company’s managing director stepped down following a profit warning.

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The problems originally stemmed from the decision to shift from part-time external debt collecting agents to a full-time, in-house team, which drove up costs. The potential loss faced by CCD was recently put by Provident at £120m.

The group’s position has been complicated by two investigations launched by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) into Moneybarn and the group’s credit card business, Vanquis.

Provident recently undertook a major restructuring exercise among its executives, and appointed Malcolm Le May as chief executive.

A few days before the reshuffle, it had been reported that four former executives, including the former managing director of CCD, Andy Parkinson, were suing Provident for unfair dismissal.

Provident’s motor finance subsidiary Moneybarn continued to grow in Q3 2017, with receivables rising 26% to £362m and customer numbers growing by 10,000 to 49,000.