While many new banks have been successful in becoming authorised through the New Bank Start-up Unit, there is a significant difference between the number of firms that are interested in becoming a bank, those that follow the process of submitting an application; and those that subsequently gain authorisation.
There are a number of reasons for why this is the case:
- some firms realise that they can achieve their desired business model without needing to set up a bank. There are significant costs to setting up a bank, so firms need to be assured that this is the right option for them;
- firms’ proposals may fall short of the standards required to become a bank; they may be unclear or disorganised. This highlights the importance of the pre-application stage for firms as our feedback can help to shape and further develop their thinking. The pre-application stage is an optional stage where firms engage with us early on in order to develop their propositions and prepare their applications to set up a new bank. More detail on the pre-application stage can be found in the New bank authorisation process section; and,
- firms may lose their financial backers such that they do not have the financial resources that they need to operate as a bank. This can lead to some applicants withdrawing from the process while they seek fresh investment.
The table below lists the firms we have authorised as banks since 2013 (as at 2 April 2024).
|
Total number of authorised banks since 2013 |
List of new UK ‘start-up’ banks authorised by the PRA |
List of new banks authorised as either a branch or a subsidiary of an overseas bank by the PRA (a) |
|---|---|---|
|
66 (b) |
37 |
29 |
|
Paragon Bank Plc Hampden & Co Plc Charter Court Financial Services Oaknorth Bank Plc Atom Bank Plc Tandem Bank Limited (d) First Trust Global Bank (c) Masthaven Limited (c) Starling Bank Limited Monzo Bank Limited Civilised Bank Limited (c) Chetwood Financial Limited Zopa Bank Limited Revver Limited (c) Allica Bank Limited GH Bank Limited (c) Oxbury FS Plc Castle Trust Capital Plc DF Capital Bank Limited Ashman Bank Limited (c) Perenna Bank Plc SilverRock Financial Services Limited |
Axis Bank UK Limited Union Bank of India (UK) Limited FCMB (UK Limited) UBA Capital (Europe Limited) (c) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited U.S Bank National Association (c) China Construction Bank Corporation London Branch Habib Zurich Plc China Merchants Bank Co Limited Bank of Communications Co Limited State Bank of (UK) India Agricultural Bank of China Limited London Branch Bank of Baroda (UK) Limited Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co, Ltd Kookmin Bank Co Ltd London Branch Handelsbanken Plc Triodos Bank UK Limited RCI Financial Services Limited China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited London Branch CitiBank UK Limited Intesa Sanpaolo Private (Swiss Morval S.A) (c) JN Bank UK Ltd |
Footnotes
- (a) Please note this list does not include former EEA authorised firms (including former EEA Branches now authorised as Third Country Branches in the UK).
- (b) This figure is made up of 30 new UK deposit-takers, 20 overseas branches/subsidiaries, and 4 banks authorised for ring-fencing purposes (not included in this table).
- (c) This firm is no longer authorised.
- (d) In January 2018, Tandem Money Limited acquired the entity previously named Harrods Bank Limited (‘HBL’) and changed HBL’s name to ‘Tandem Bank Limited’. The entity now known as Tandem Bank Limited has therefore been authorised since prior to 2010. However we include reference to Tandem Bank Limited in the list above because Tandem Money Limited was granted authorisation as a start-up bank in 2015. Tandem Money Limited no longer holds a deposit-taking permission.
- (e) UBA Capital (Europe Limited) was authorised with restrictions but voluntarily cancelled. After this, UBA Capital (Europe Limited) re-applied and was authorised without restrictions. This entity is now known as United Bank for Africa (UK) Limited.