WYELANDS Bank announced that no fund will be provided by its biggest shareholder Sanjeev Gupta.
The trouble started in March when the Bank of England ordered Wyelands to repay £194 million to its retail depositors.
Wyelands said yesterday it had handed back almost all of the sum, apart from £600,000 subject to probate or old accounts still being traced.
In March last year, Gupta lent Wyelands £75 million, of which £42.9 million has been converted into equity. That came as Wyelands’ board decided to carry out a “solvent wind-down of the balance sheet”, keeping regulators informed about the process.
Gupta has now indicated that he will not be providing further funds to finance a new strategy for the bank. Following several enquiries from independent third parties, the board has authorised chief executive officer Stephen Rose to engage with potential new investors to assess the potential to take Wyelands forward under new ownership, Wyelands said in a statement yesterday.
The Prudential Regulatory Authority order for deposits to be repaid came amid the unfolding crisis at Greensill Capital, which was a large provider of loans to Gupta’s GFG Alliance, a sprawling group that owns operations around the world.
Wyelands, established in 2016 by Gupta and named after his Welsh country estate, filed its accounts yesterday, which showed that for the year to the end of April 2020 it made a loss before tax of £63 million, after booking £61.3 million of loan impairments.
Davindra and Seema Misra, and Vijay and Gita Parekh
Varchas Patel with his father Vipin and mother Jayshriben
Hasmukh Shingadia and his wife Chandrika were all victims of the Horizon scandal
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)