The Bank of London has filed for a name change on Companies House as its accounts hurtle towards being six months overdue.
The company, formally known as The Bank of London Group Holdings Limited, last week changed its name to Oplyse Holdings. The rationale behind the name change is not clear, though a search of Google Translate suggests that ‘oplyse’ is Danish for ‘inform’.
Bank of London did not inform UKTN of the reason for the change after a request for comment.
The firm’s 2023 accounts, which were due to be filed with Companies House in September 2024, remain overdue. However, the company continues to be active on Companies House, filing the name change as well as a number of share transfers. This includes:
- 17 March filing: a transfer of 4m shares for £400k;
- 17 January filing: a transfer 10m shares for 10 pence;
- 23 December filing: a transfer of 20m shares for £2m;
- 3 December filing: a transfer of 70m shares for 10 pence.
It was not clear what the share transfers related to or why the transfer values differed greatly between transactions.
When UKTN contacted the bank in February, a spokesperson was unable to give an update on the timing of the publication of the accounts, adding that auditors EY were continuing to work on them “as a matter of urgency.”
Though we are now heading into the fourth month of 2025, the Bank has not published accounts since its 2022 annual report. That was also filed more than three months late, as were the previous accounts, relating to the 2021 financial year.
That means the firm is set to incur its third consecutive fine for the late filing of accounts, a pattern of behaviour which is highly unusual for a business with a banking licence. Penalties for late filing of accounts are doubled if the same penalty was charged the previous year — though Companies House fines rarely exceed four figures. Revolut was also known for its repeated late filing of accounts, but has filed them on time since obtaining a banking licence.
The delay follows a turbulent period for the Bank of London, which in September was issued a winding up petition from HMRC, a manoeuvre used by the government body when it is unable to collect unpaid taxes from a business. The news came just days after the firm’s founder, Anthony Watson, announced he would be stepping down as CEO to transition to a new role as senior adviser.
In a statement in February, a Bank of London spokesperson told UKTN: “The Bank of London has undergone significant changes in the past six months, including £60m in fresh capital, a new ownership structure led by Mangrove Capital Partners, a substantially refreshed Board, and recently a new CEO in Christopher Horne who joined a few weeks ago, subject to regulatory approval.
“We are very aware that the Bank is late in filing its 2023 accounts, partly as a result of these fundamental changes. These are currently being worked on by the Bank and EY, its auditors, as a matter of urgency and they will be filed with Companies House in due course.”
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