- Harald McPike is said to be losing patience with UK regulatory reform.
- Starling’s leadership has shifted from backing London to keeping options open.
- US expansion plans are fuelling talk of a New York listing.
Starling Bank’s largest shareholder has cooled on plans for a London listing, according to an exclusive report by City AM, a development that could strengthen speculation the digital lender may instead pursue a US IPO. The report suggests growing frustration among key investors over the pace of regulatory reform in the UK.
A person familiar with Harald McPike’s thinking reportedly said “things will have to move a lot faster or it is out the door sharply,” according to a news report. The remark points to impatience around efforts to make London more competitive for fast-growing fintech firms.
McPike invested about £55m ($70m) into Starling in 2016 and retains roughly a third of the business, based on February 2025 Companies House filings cited in the report. He is now understood to believe the bank is warming to a US listing, a move he had previously resisted.
Certainty to caution
Starling’s own messaging around an IPO venue appears to have evolved. Interim chief John Mountain had earlier described London as the bank’s “natural home” and said it was “very committed” to listing there, as quoted in a news report.
That position has since softened. Finance chief Declan Ferguson said last summer there was no “concrete view” on where the bank would list and that the decision remained “in flux”, according to reports. In January, chief executive Raman Bhatia was described as “non-committal” on the location, reportedly stating that the final call rests with shareholders.
At the same time, the bank’s US ambitions appear to be gathering pace. One source described its expansion across the Atlantic as moving at an “accelerated pace”, according to a news report. Starling is understood to be considering acquiring a US-based lender to secure a banking licence, a move that could make a New York float more practical.
Regulation and recent scrutiny
Regulation is said to be at the heart of the frustration. The Bank of England raised the threshold for minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities to between £25bn and £40bn, up from £20bn to £30bn. Those close to the matter reportedly believe the increase does little to ease pressure on mid-sized and challenger banks.
There are also concerns around the internal ratings based approach, which critics argue forces newer lenders to hold more capital against similar loans compared with larger rivals. Approval requires extensive historical downturn data, something challengers often lack, according to reports.
The fintech trade body Innovate Finance has previously warned of an uneven playing field for challengers. Regulators set out proposals in January aimed at narrowing the competition gap by limiting how larger banks optimise their risk models, according to earlier reports.
Starling has faced regulatory setbacks of its own. The Financial Conduct Authority fined the bank £29m for what it described as “shockingly lax” financial crime controls. The lender later reported a 25 per cent hit to profits after declining £28m in government guarantees tied to pandemic-era loans.
A peer reportedly accused the bank of using the Covid loan scheme as a “cost-free marketing exercise”, an allegation Bhatia dismissed as “utter nonsense”, as quoted in a news report.
In response, a Starling spokesperson said McPike holds meetings with UK officials “on his own account” and that the bank welcomes recent updates to the MREL framework. The spokesperson added that the lender is focused on executing its growth strategy rather than deciding on the timing or location of an IPO.
No formal decision has been announced. But with regulatory tensions simmering and US ambitions expanding, the direction of Starling’s eventual float remains an open question.
