The Hampshire Community Bank reports to the public on the progress it has been making with its launch.
The multi-year bank authorisation process, having followed the so-called New Bank Applicant Journey under the guidance of the authorities since 2016, reached its culmination with the so-called Challenge Session stage. This took place in the presence of six officials from the Prudential Regulatory Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. The regulators of both authorities had previously put the detailed plans for launching the Community Bank to the test and examined the voluminous documents the team had submitted, including the Regulatory Business Plan after multiple requested revisions under the guidance of the regulators, as well as the Internal Capital Adequacy and Internal Liquidity Adequacy Assessment Plans. With this, the Community Bank passed a very important milestone as regulators stated that no further meetings were necessary and, after incorporating the latest written feedback, the banking team can proceed to submit its formal authorisation application documentation.
Meanwhile, work on mobilising the core banking IT software and related IT infrastructure for commercial loan banking operations made significant progress.
“We are proceeding well with the implementation of the IT systems, the training of staff and also preparing for the move of our headquarters to the new Community Bank building – Eastgate House, in 80 Eastgate Street, Winchester”, said Mr Andreas Neukirch, managing director.
The next important steps concern the authorisation process and local lending. Concerning authorisation, the team continues to engage closely with the regulators and after receipt of Authorisation with Restrictions will proceed to the Mobilisation Phase.