Discover the Flavours L'Acadie: Chef Shane Robicheau's at Devour! The Food Film Fest | SaltWireLONDON/BOGOTA -When Vernon Hill launched Metro Bank in 2010, his Yorkshire terrier tucked under one arm, he vowed the upstart lender would challenge the dominance of Britain's big banks.
"Maybe it's just the least worst outcome now and a bitter pill that just needs to be necked," said John Cronin, banking analyst at Goodbody. A source with knowledge of the matter said Gilinski planned to acquire further UK banking assets over time and was monitoring other opportunities, building on his experiences buying a string of banks in Latin America.British regulators and lawmakers have long wanted the challengers to take on the bigger banks, but progress has been slow as they have largely failed to achieve the scale needed.
Some challengers have criticized Britain's capital rules for hampering competition, leading the Bank of England to pledge to introduce a"strong and simple" capital regime for smaller banks, although the reform has yet to be implemented. Some analysts say several problems remain for Metro, including a high-cost branch model, but the bank is betting a shift into higher margin lending, including specialist mortgages and commercial loans, will pay off.Tough economic conditions are clouding the outlook for the challenger banks, in some cases raising concerns around potential loan losses and high funding costs.