The Bank of London bags £42m funding round after reportedly being hit with HMRC winding-up petition
The Bank of London has closed its latest funding round at £42 million after reportedly being hit by a winding-up petition from UK tax authority HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The Bank of London bags £42m amid tax woes
The round, that was oversubscribed, according to the bank, was led by existing backer Mangrove Capital Partners, which previously co-led a $40 million extension to the bank’s Series C in February last year.
The bank says it surpassed £500 million in customer deposits in August this year and has now over 4,500 clients of its clearing and commercial banking services.
The latest funding round “underscores investor belief and confidence in our vision”, comments Stephen Bell, the recently appointed CEO of The Bank of London.
Bell, previously the bank’s chief risk and compliance officer, assumed the CEO position in early September upon the departure of Anthony Watson, who founded The Bank of London in 2018.
Announcing his decision to step down, Watson described the move as “one of the most challenging decisions of my career”, adding that now is “the right time after eight years leading the company”.
He has retained his position as non-executive director of the group’s holding company and also remains a shareholder.
Progress to petition
However, just less than a week after confirming the leadership transition, it emerged that the bank had been issued with a winding-up petition from HMRC, as first reported by City AM.
Such orders are typically issued by the authority to force a limited company into liquidation when debts are unable to be paid off.
According to HMRC’s website, those that receive a winding-up petition will usually have their bank accounts frozen, with assets and property then sold off by an official receiver to recover losses.
When contacted by FinTech Futures on the matter, a spokesperson from The Bank of London said: “The bank is fully up to date with all tax payments to HMRC. The issue was due to a simple administrative handling delay due to an internal miscommunication, which has been resolved.”
