A new internet lender has resumed talks with potential investors, buoyed by revised FSA rules, Sky News understands.
A new retail bank which has been struggling to secure funding and regulatory approval for more than three years has restarted talks with potential investors, buoyed by new rules governing start-up lenders. I have learnt that Home & Savings Bank, which has been seeking as much as £250m of external capital since 2009, has in recent weeks resumed canvassing private equity firms, hedge funds and wealthy individuals about backing its launch plans. The company, which would be a telephone and internet-based lender, is the brainchild of a group of former bank executives and Martin Finegold, the boss of Cambridge Place Asset Management, a London-based hedge fund. People familiar with Home & Savings Bank's business plan said it had scaled back its ambitions and was now aiming to raise between £100m and £150m. The nascent bank's management team includes Stuart Sinclair, former head of Tesco Personal Finance, and Peter Birch, one-time head of Abbey National.....Read more here