Caius Capital took a stake in Metro Bank.

A hedge fund with a history of shaking up companies has taken a 5 per cent stake in Metro Bank, battling to restore its fortunes after an accounting scandal in 2019.

London-based Caius Capital has taken an £11 million stake in Metro.

The bank was floated in London in 2016 at £20 a share. It trades at 126p, having struggled to regain the market’s confidence after accounting errors in 2019 in how it treated buy-to-let loans and commercial mortgages.

It was founded in 2016 by former Goldman Sachs and Och-Ziff Capital Management employees.

Last month, City regulators fined Metro £5.4 million.

US financier Vernon Hill co-founded it and, when it launched in 2010, was heralded as the first bank to open branches in 100 years.

Metro has been boosted by tighter cost controls and rising interest rates, which make it easier for banks to profit from the difference between the rates they pay savers and the rates they charge borrowers.

Caius could not be reached for comment. In addition, the bank did not comment on its latest shareholder, which has become one of its ten most prominent investors.

Five years ago, Caius took a stake in the Italian bank UniCredit and raised questions about the financial instruments the bank was using to calculate its financial strength.

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