(6 April 2018 – UK) CivilisedBank, which was aiming to start lending to British businesses this year has given up its banking licence after failing to build sufficient IT infrastructure in time to launch.
The new bank was modelling itself after Sweden’s Handelsbanken, putting relationship-focused business banking at its core.
CivilisedBank was given the go-ahead by the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority last May however the PRA can cancel a licence if activity does not start within 12 months.
The bank will reapply for a licence once its IT infrastructure and platform are completed.