One of the UK’s new digital banks has lost its licence after failing to secure funding from a Chinese conglomerate amid concerns that regulators in Beijing would reject the deal.
Tandem, which is set to launch in the coming months as an app-based lender, had been due to receive £29m from House of Fraser, the UK department store chain that was bought by Sanpower, a Nanjing-headquartered conglomerate, in 2014.
However, the bank said yesterday the retailer had pulled its funding because of “uncertainty about whether China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange would approve the transaction”, given Beijing’s renewed focus on capital controls.