Castle Trust has been given full authorisation as a bank by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the FCA.

This follows the bank being granted authorisation with restrictions in March 2020 after applying at the end of 2019.

Castle Trust says that, following a proposal, customers voted in favour of converting existing investments into bank deposits by an “overwhelming majority.”

It adds that converting its existing 30,000 investment accounts in this manner will be its priority.

After this, Castle Trust chief executive Martin Bischoff says: “We’ll be revealing details of our enhanced specialist property lending proposition shortly, which will build upon our existing offering to meet the needs of buy-to-let landlords and high net worth individuals.

“Our new status enables us to work with a wider range of property brokers,” he adds.

Majority shareholder J.C Flowers & Co. managing director Tim Hanford comments: “The licence is the endorsement of the quality of this business at many levels.

We have a terrific board and an exceptional team of people who deliver innovative products to our customers supported by a technologically advanced infrastructure with robust processes and controls. We look forward to continuing to be part of Castle Trust’s development and success and remain excited by the opportunities for a nimble competitor in the UK banking market.”