"And we put a ton of effort and a ton of energy into preparing high class materials and doing high quality modelling.
"That puts us in a good position in the conversations with the regulator, and it'll come when it comes. Our current requirements have been reduced."
He also drew attention to a pillar that Metro Bank got to its offset from the regulator.
Frumkin said: "I think it's a sign from the regulator about their belief in the turnaround, about their belief in the quality of our balance sheet, about the belief and the credit quality of our consumer and mortgage lending that allow them to be comfortable to provide us a bit of Pillar 2A relief."
On January 1 2023 the PRA reduced the bank’s Pillar 2A capital requirement from 0.50 per cent to 0.36 per cent.
But in its H1 results, unveiled in August 2023, Metro Bank stated that the PRA has still not given approval: "The bank’s AIRB application is still in progress. As previously highlighted, the bank continues to review its options, across the capital stack, to strengthen its capital base."
According to Peel Hunt, company management has stated it will not seek to raise capital until it has AIRB so its capital shortfall will remain at least until 2024.
However, analysts at Peel Hunt have put the investment case for Metro Bank as a 'hold', watching to see whether its longer-term progress will meet expectations.
In a note seen by FTAdviser, Robert Sage, Stuart Duncan and Ryan Flight of Peel Hunt, said: "AIRB is a notoriously lengthy process and this delay does not in our view reduce Metro’s chance of obtaining accreditation in the medium term.
"This news is modestly disappointing but not unexpected and does not change our view that the Metro investment case will become potentially attractive once AIRB is achieved and capital ratios are normalised."
