FSA considering three new applications for UK bank licences
The FSA is today considering three applications for new bank licences in the UK which will see the sector increase in size and an increase in competition. While the FSA is unwilling at this point to name the three parties in question there is much speculation regarding their identities although nobody has yet stepped forward to confirm or deny the rumours.
This is exactly what the UK banking industry needs and what the UK government has been striving towards for many months. An injection of new blood into the UK banking sector will not only shake up the sector as a whole but it could also allay consumer fears about practices which have caused confusion and friction in the past. While even a maximum of three new entrants to the market will not make a difference overnight, there is the potential for new blood to attract new business and ensure that the old guard of the UK banking sector "wake up and smell the coffee".
The application for new bank licences appears to coincide perfectly with the forthcoming sale of Northern Rock, which has obviously set many tongues wagging. So who are the mystery applicants?
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