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Metro Bank to launch
Vernon Hill, a US financial entrepreneur, is close to launching a new bank, Metro Bank, next year with two branches in central London.
The venture is set to go ahead if Hill gets approval from the City regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Metro Bank would be the first bank to launch in the UK since the late 19th century. The FSA is looking at a number of other applications from businesspeople wishing to start banks, ncluding those from Virgin and Sandy Chen, a Panmure Gordon banking analyst.