Amicus rethinks banking licence

The shock announcement comes afterAmicus Property Finance provided more than £500m for residential, commercial, refurbishment and development projects in 2016.

Amicus rethinks banking licence

Regulators the FCA and the PRA have put the brakes on Amicus receiving its banking licence in a move that will probably lead to redundancies at the lender.

The shock announcement comes afterAmicus Property Finance provided more than £500m for residential, commercial, refurbishment and development projects in 2016 and expected to lend more this year.

As a result Amicus is undergoing a strategic review across the group in order to reduce operational costs and ensure its short-term property lending business continues to grow.

Keith Aldridge, managing director at Amicus, said: “Following the strategic review, Amicus will be well placed to continue building its core lending business through its diversified funding strategy.

"We have a strong origination pipeline in place and are well positioned to go from strength to strength.”

The business said it is making every effort to complete this process as quickly as possible to reduce uncertainty and move the company forward.

One industry insider added: "This just shows how difficult it is to obtain a banking licence - it's certainly not a walk in the park. You have to have all i's dotted and t's crossed. Amicus has a great reputation and I'm flummoxed as to why this didn't get approved."