Bank of London (clearing bank)

For other uses, see Bank of London.

Bank of London
Bank of London
IndustryFinancial Services
Headquarters
77 Cornhill, City of London, EC3V 3QQ [1]
Key people
  • Monique Melis (Chairperson)
  • Christopher Horne (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Simon Walker (Non-Executive Director & Chief of the Board Risk Committee)[2]
  • Mark Carawan (Independent Non-Executive Director & Chair of the Audit Committee)[3]
  • Tony Bullman (Chief Financial Officer) [4]
  • Tom Howie (Chief Transformation Officer, Chief HR Officer)[5]

Bank of London is a British clearing bank launched on 30 November 2021[6] as the United Kingdom’s sixth principal clearing bank. It operates an API-based payments and clearing platform and is a participant in the UK Faster Payments and Bacs systems.[7][8][9]

In November 2025, Tony Bullman took over from Horne as the fourth CEO in little over a year. [10]

In January 2025, Christopher Horne was appointed chief executive and Monique Melis as chair of the board, as part of an investor-led restructuring that also brought board changes.[11][12] The bank has partnered with SAP Fioneer to integrate the Cloud for Banking platform within its technology stack.[13]

History

Foundation and expansion

The bank was founded by Anthony Watson, , who left in 2024.[14][7][15] In 2021, Harvey Schwartz was appointed as Group Chairperson and Non-executive Director.[16]

The executive team spent four years prior to the bank's launch creating proprietary technology which allowed them to enter the market with a $1.1 billion valuation. It became the first pre-revenue bank to achieve 'unicorn' status. The bank had raised $120 million in funding within weeks of opening for business. Its funding within its first month put it within the UK's top 10 most valuable fintech firms. In December 2021, it was in talks with three additional investment firms to raise additional funding.[17]

The bank uses cloud-based core banking technology and a software as a service (SAAS) delivery model.[18] The bank's goals are to take on established banks in the market for clearing and settlement, deliver global banking transactions for the corporate market, and to provide SAAS to assist companies in embedding payments into their products using white-labelled, API-first banking infrastructure.[19]

In June 2022 the bank announced it was to open an office in Belfast,[20] in order to capitalize on Belfast's high concentration of fintech employment.[21] The office opened on 17 August 2022, with the Economic Minister of Northern Ireland, Gordon Lyons, visiting on the opening day.[22]

In February 2023, the bank secured an additional $40 million as an extension to its Series C funding. Investors of this round were Mangrove Capital Partners, 14W Venture Capital, and ForgeLight Investment Funds.[23]

On 3 September 2024, Anthony Watson  left the bank and was replaced by Stephen Bell, a former Ulster Bank executive, as interim CEO.[24][25]

On 5 September 2024, HMRC petitioned to wind up the bank's parent holding company Bank of London Group Holdings Limited.[26] However, on 9 September 2024, the bank stated that it had since paid all its taxes and the HMRC petition was the result of an administrative error on the part of Bank of London.[27] The same month, Bank of London received £57 million in equity from new owners led by Mangrove Capital Partners, with a commitment of a further £25 million.[28][29]

New Leadership and Ownership

In late September 2024, the bank announced changes to its board of directors, including the departure of several non-executive members and the transition to a new governance structure.[30][31]

On 20 January 2025, the bank named Christopher Horne (former UK CEO of Credit Suisse) as group chief executive, in the context of an investor-led restructuring backed by Mangrove Capital Partners.[32][33]

In 2025, subsequent hires included Tony Bullman (Chief Financial Officer, former CFO at Credit Suisse) and Tom Howie (Chief Transformation Officer, former COO at HSBC) in June/July. Hana Rolles (Chief Commercial Officer) joined in August, followed by Aris Asimakis (Chief Risk & Compliance Officer) later that month.[34][35][36]

Technology

Bank of London promotes an API-driven platform and has partnered with SAP Fioneer to integrate Cloud for Banking (C4B) within its stack. The bank is directly connected to UK Payment systems including Faster Payments (as a Directly Connected Settling Participant) and Bacs.[37]

References

  1. ^ https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12844788/persons-with-significant-control
  2. ^ https://www.business-live.co.uk/professional-services/banking-finance/bank-london-replaces-chair-continues-30524627
  3. ^ https://ffnews.com/newsarticle/fintech/the-bank-of-london-appoints-mark-carawan-to-the-united-kingdom-bank-board/
  4. ^ https://thefintechtimes.com/behind-the-idea-bank-of-london/
  5. ^ https://www.thebanker.com/content/56eed352-67b3-474a-bd51-f1a54b7576e1
  6. ^ "Inside the world of clearing banks: Is the Bank of London worth the 250 year wait?". CityAM. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  7. ^ a b Hosking, Patrick. "'Unicorn' Bank of London a game changer". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  8. ^ Venkataramakrishnan, Siddharth (30 November 2021). "UK clearing bank set to launch with $1bn valuation". Financial Times. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Bank of London launches with big ambitions as the UK's sixth clearing bank - The TRADE". www.thetradenews.com. December 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  10. ^ https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/46967/bank-of-london-ceo-departs
  11. ^ "Bank of London appoints former Credit Suisse boss as chief executive". cityam.com. 20 January 2025.
  12. ^ "Bank of London shakes up UK board in investor-led recovery plan". 5 December 2024.
  13. ^ "The Bank of London and SAP Fioneer join forces to disrupt global clearing and transaction banking". sapfioneer.com. 28 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Mandelson ally facing High Court battle over debts". telegraph.co.uk. 20 September 2025.
  15. ^ "Britain's first gay banking chief executive wants to shake up finance". Deccan Herald. 14 December 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  16. ^ Clarke, Paul. "Former Goldman Sachs exec Schwartz to chair new clearing bank". www.fnlondon.com. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  17. ^ Bray, Wesley (1 December 2021). "Bank of London launches with big ambitions as the UK's sixth clearing bank". The Trade. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  18. ^ "What Will London's Place Be in the Future of Global Clearing?". 13 July 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  19. ^ Bray, Wesley (1 December 2021). "Bank of London launches with big ambitions as the UK's sixth clearing bank". The Trade. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  20. ^ Khairnar, Shruti (21 June 2022). "The Bank of London invests in Belfast and creates over 200 new jobs". Fintech Futures. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  21. ^ Isaacs, Amelia (20 June 2022). "Bank of London invests millions in new Belfast centre". Altfi. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  22. ^ McAleer, Ryan (17 August 2022). "Bank of London opens new Belfast fintech base at Soloist Building". The Irish News. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  23. ^ "The Bank of London raises $40m, bringing total valuation to $1.1b". Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  24. ^ "Anthony Watson steps down from role as CEO of The Bank of London". fintechfutures.com. 4 September 2024.
  25. ^ "The Bank of London founder steps down as chief executive". cityam.com. 3 September 2024.
  26. ^ "The Bank Of London Group Holdings Limited - Caseboard". Caseboard Limited. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  27. ^ "Bank of London resolves tax payment glitch, raises funds". Reuters. 9 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  28. ^ "The Bank of London under investigation by the PRA in relation to "certain historical matters"". fintechfutures.com. 19 May 2025.
  29. ^ "Bank of London investigated by UK regulator as losses deepen". thebanker.com. 14 May 2024.
  30. ^ Field, Matthew (30 October 2024). "Lord Mandelson leads exodus at bank founded by Labour party donor". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  31. ^ "Anthony Watson CBE transitions to non-executive director of the firm's holding company". The Bank of London. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  32. ^ "The Bank of London Announces New Leader to Drive Transformation and Growth". ffnews.com. 22 January 2025.
  33. ^ "Mangrove Capital installs Christopher Horne as CEO at The Bank of London". finextra.com. 22 January 2025.
  34. ^ "The Bank of London hires new CFO and transformation chief in latest leadership additions". fintechfutures.com. 1 July 2025.
  35. ^ "Bank of London Appoints Hana Rolles as Chief Commercial Officer". thefinancialtechnologyreport.com. 4 August 2025.
  36. ^ "The Bank of London appoints Aris Asimakis as chief risk and compliance officer". Fintech Futures. 21 August 2025.
  37. ^ "The Bank of London joins Bacs payment network". ibsintelligence.com. 12 December 2022.
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