Metro Bank was founded by Anthony Thomson and
Vernon Hill It planned to open between 200 and 250 branches in
Greater London within ten years of starting up. Its first branch opened on 29 July 2010 in
Holborn, central London. In 2012, the bank raised an additional $200 million in funding from investors including
Fidelity,
Steven A. Cohen of hedge fund
SAC Capital Advisors, and New York real estate investors
the LeFraks and
David and Simon Reubens. On 2 May 2013 the
Daily Telegraph reported that, following a loss of £8.8 million in the first quarter of 2013, Metro Bank's pre-tax losses had exceeded £100 million in less than three years since its launch, but the bank stated that these were planned for, and were "a result of its growth initiatives". In an interview with the
Financial Times, Hill said the bank was "...in line with the business plan to rapidly grow this company". He added: "Our primary goal is to expand the business ... and profit certainly will come". Metro Bank acquired SME Finance in August 2013, and rebranded the business as Metro Bank SME Finance in May 2014. In January 2019, Metro Bank admitted classifying a portfolio of commercial loans for capital purposes incorrectly, thereby failing to hold sufficient capital to meet regulatory requirements; the error applied to around 10% of its loan book. As a result of the admission and the share issue announcement, Metro Bank's share price fell sharply, losing 40% of its value in the month after the announcement and 75% in less than four months. By March 2019, the
BBC reported that Metro Bank shares were the second most
shorted shares on the UK stock market. Additionally, large depositors began withdrawing funds: Metro Bank admitted that there had been a 4% drop in its deposits in the first quarter of 2019 because of "adverse sentiment". It was announced in August 2020 that Metro Bank had agreed to acquire Retail Money Market Ltd, a London-based provider of peer-to-peer loans trading as
RateSetter. The price would be between £2.5 million and £12 million, depending on performance over the next three years. The purchase was subject to regulatory approval and the agreement of Retail Money Market Ltd shareholders, and was expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2020. Metro Bank would continue the RateSetter brand and its operations, but new unsecured personal lending would be funded by the bank's deposits, not through peer-to-peer. In February 2021, Metro Bank bought RateSetter's entire portfolio of loans, valued at £384m. In February 2021, Metro Bank completed the £3.04 billion sale of a residential mortgage portfolio to
NatWest. The deal was agreed upon in December 2020. In November 2021, Metro Bank entered talks with the
Carlyle Group concerning a possible takeover bid. On 6–8 October 2022, Metro Bank's mobile banking app failed, resulting in its customers being unable to manage their accounts remotely. In October 2023, it was revealed that
JPMorgan Chase had considered a bid for Metro Bank before opting not to proceed due to the capital required by the bank. Metro was also claimed to have rejected an offer from fellow challenger bank
Shawbrook. On 8 October 2023, Metro Bank secured a £325m capital raise alongside £600m of debt refinancing with
Jaime Gilinski Bacal, the second richest person in Colombia, becoming the controlling shareholder with around a 53% stake in the business. In November 2024, Metro Bank was fined £16.7 million by the Financial Conduct Authority for failing to ensure an automated system was correctly checking customer transactions for potential money laundering until four years after it was installed. == Services ==