Challenger bank chief calls for cuts in red tape after Brexit to stimulate competition

Paul Lynam, chief executive of SecureTrust Bank, says UK should use Brexit to boost banking competition - warren allott/Telegraph

The Government has been urged to use Brexit to slash red tape for small banks to boost competition and follow the deregulatory path set by the US.

Paul Lynam, the influential boss of challenger bank SecureTrust Bank, told The Daily Telegraph leaving the EU would enable Britain to level the field for smaller lenders and help break the dominance of the big five – Barclays, Lloyds, RBS, HSBC and Santander.

Despite a push by the UK government to boost competition in recent years, the big five still hold the lion’s share of the consumer and business banking markets, with switching rates actually falling last year.

The US Senate last week passed a bill targeting deregulation for small banks

In the US, legislators are currently pushing a deregulation bill targeted at boosting small banks through Capitol Hill – and Mr Lynam said the UK should take advantage of Brexit to follow suit. Mr Lynam, who also heads up the challenger bank panel for City lobby group UK Finance, said EU regulators were too strict on small banks.

UK lenders currently have to answer to both domestic regulators and the European Banking Authority (EBA). The EBA requires all banks to abide by the same international ‘Basel’ rules for holding large capital buffers to protect them from failure in a crash.

But Mr Lynam said this “one size fits” approach is inappropriate and costly for smaller lenders, which he said should be allowed to fail.