Bank Aston has been authorised to launch a new offshore bank by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) has granted Bank Aston a banking licence. The licence is subject to conditions during Bank Aston’s launch phase.
James Bennett, Bank Aston Co-Founder, said: “Banking is becoming a huge problem for offshore institutions. They face increasingly slow approvals, poor customer services and eye-watering fees with decisions being taken remotely by legacy banks whose risk appetite is steadily declining. This has resulted in more and more institutions being forced onshore which increases inefficiency, adds unnecessary risk and takes revenue away from the islands.”
Guernsey resident, Jay Goss, is Bank Aston’s other Co-Founder and is well aware of the current banking issues facing many offshore institutions. He said: “Few people realise the seriousness of the situation. The difficulties with onboarding and running accounts is starting to impact the whole industry. But there is an opportunity as well. We see Bank Aston as a commitment to Guernsey’s future and to ensuring the island remains relevant, resilient and ambitious on the global financial map.”
To support the launch, Bank Aston has appointed Kevin Brown as Chairman, a senior leader with experience at Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of England and FCA; and Paul Gorman as CEO, who spent 20 years in senior management roles in corporate and investment banking, including at Barclays and Santander.
Paul Gorman commented: “The offshore market is huge. In the Channel Islands alone, there is over £800bn of assets under management and another £250bn in bank deposits. There are also thousands of investment funds and hundreds of family offices. We believe with our new approach we can make a huge difference and actively help the whole offshore sector”.
Having obtained its licensed with conditions status, Bank Aston now moves into the build phase of the bank prior to formal licensing and launching in 2026. It will then begin taking on accepting deposits from institutional clients while rolling out its full product offer.
Kevin Brown, Bank Aston’s new Chairman, added: “I don’t think you can over-emphasise how important it is to the offshore financial community to have their own banking champion. We think Bank Aston has the potential to transform the entire offshore financial system.”
Walkers’ lawyers in Guernse, led by Regulatory & Risk partner Chris Hutley-Hurst and including Employment partner Sarah Ash and Investment Funds & Corporate senior counsel Charlotte Goncalves, provided detailed legal and regulatory advice in relation to the formation, structuring and operation of the bank.
Commenting on Walkers’ wide-ranging input, Chris Hutley-Hurst said: “Having worked with the Aston team on the formation and launch of their payments business in Guernsey, we were very pleased to assist on this milestone matter, which sees Aston launch one of the first new banks in Guernsey for a while, and the only bank to be headquartered here.
“From a Walkers perspective our role on the bank’s formation further demonstrates our highly technical regulatory, employment and corporate capabilities and we look forward to supporting Aston in the next phase of building out the new bank.”
Pictured: James Bennett, Kevin Brown, Paul Gorman and Jay Goss of Bank Aston
