Lord Adair Turner joins board of challenger bank OakNorth
It seems that everywhere you look these days, another challenger bank is opening its doors. And it seems OakNorth will be the latest to jump on the bandwagon, after it gained approval from the Financial Conduct and Prudential Regulation Authorities, and appointed three City grandees to its board.
OakNorth announced plans last month to launch an operation geared at lending to small businesses and providing savings products for retail customers.
Today it said it had been awarded a banking license, as well as appointing Lord Adair Turner, Ratan Engineer and Robert Burgess to its board.
Former Ernst & Young asset management boss and Invesco finance chief engineer will become chairman, while ex-Financial Services Authority boss and CBI chief Turner and former Alliance Trust Savings chief exec Burgess will both join the board as non-exec directors.
Turner said small firms play a "pivotal role in the economy".
They find it more difficult to access finance in Britain than they would in many other countries, such as the US or Germany.
Rishi Khosla, OakNorth's chief executive, added that the new appointments will "give us a… strong and well-balanced leadership team".