Britain to exceed government target for 15 new banks in next 5 years

LONDON, June 2 (Reuters) - Britain will exceed a governmenttarget of getting 15 new banks into the market over the nextfive years to help to boost competition, the country's topfinancial markets regulator said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister David Cameron's government, elected lastmonth, set this target to challenge the so-called "Big Four"banks, HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds andRoyal Bank of Scotland, which dominate the market forretail customer accounts.

"We expect that to be achieved. We expect that to beexceeded," Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the FinancialConduct Authority, told a financial conference.

In the past two years, 14 new banks have been authorised anda further 20 are now in the early stages of seekingauthorisation, Wheatley said.

But Wheatley also said introducing new banks to the marketwas not purely a "numbers game" and that having a very largenumber of banks, such as the 700 banks operating in Italy, wasprobably not a good thing for customers.

Adding some new entrants, increasing innovation in bankingservices, and being a "referee" to ensure customers are putfirst, were the FCA's key to improving competition, he said.

The watchdog has also given advice to about 100 so-calledfintech firms, many of them based in London's Shoreditchdistrict, known for being a tech start-up hub.

Some of these businesses want to offer services in cybercurrencies or make it easier for people to open a bank accountwhen they move to another country, Wheatley said.

(Reporting by Huw Jones. Editing by Jane Merriman)