SoFi drops plans to enter Australia, Canada

(Reuters) - Online lender Social Finance Inc said on Thursday it is pulling back from expanding into Australia and Canada as previously planned, choosing instead to focus on improving its core lending products like student loans and mortgages in its home market.

The San Francisco-based company will also drop its plans to push into asset management, according to a letter from its interim CEO to shareholders and seen by Reuters.

SoFi said it will sell Cabezon Investment Group, a hedge fund founded by its former Chief Executive Mike Cagney, it acquired last year.

The company's adjusted operating revenue surged 61 percent to $145.3 million in the third quarter, driven by general demand for student loans.

Addressing the issue of several lawsuits that have been filed against the company for misconduct by former employees, interim CEO Tom Hutton said, "We are taking strong steps to make clear that we will resolutely enforce our policies against sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior."

"The executive team and I have taken a hard look at SoFi's culture since these allegations, and frankly we still see a lot of room for improvement," he said.

Cagney resigned in September after SoFi launched a probe into claims that current and former employees were sexually harassed at work.

(Reporting by Ishita Chigilli Palli in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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