LHV lands UK banking licence from the Prudential Regulation Authority
LHV Bank has secured a UK banking licence from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), becoming the first company to receive a UK licence without restrictions in 2023.
LHV lands UK banking licence
Post-authorisation, the bank will transition from a branch of Estonian AS LHV Pank to a fully regulated UK bank via the Business Transfer process.
After the transfer, the UK branch of LHV Pank will be deregistered, and LHV Bank will operate as a separate entity.
LHV Bank provides banking services to 200 global fintechs and lending services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.
The firm acquired Bank North’s SME lending business last year and has received regulatory clearance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to start issuing SME loans.
LHV, which initially announced its decision to pursue a UK banking licence in 2021 and submitted its application in March 2022, intends to expand its operations to accepting retail deposits and offering banking services for e-commerce businesses.
LHV Bank chair Madis Toomsalu says: “We expect LHV Bank to achieve profitability by the end of our first year of operations.
“Our ability to generate additional capital internally positions us strongly for further growth in the dynamic UK banking market.”
LHV Bank has offices in London, Leeds, Manchester and Tallinn and has more than 10 million end-customers through 200 fintech clients. Last year, the bank claims it processed more than 25 million payments worth more than £90 billion.
