The windfall will be triggered by a conversion of b-shares into shares, according to a document sent to investors ahead of the final fundraising before the bank goes public, Sky News reported.

Companies can categorise shares, for example as a-shares and b-shares. While the shares can come with the same rights, often there is a difference between the two.

Shareholders with a-shares may be paid dividends while shareholders with b-shares are not. Different voting rights may also be attributed to the different shares depending on category.

Metro Bank’s chief executive, Craig Donaldson, is believed to be receiving some of the money, however, it is not known how large his share will be.

In September, it was reported that the challenger bank was preparing for a listing which could see it valued at more than £1bn.

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The shares will be priced at £24 each, nearly double the £13 they cost when Metro Bank last raised capital at the end of 2013.

Talk of a public flotation has been circulating since last year, when founder and chairman Vernon Hill told the Financial Times that the bank aimed to go public in 2016, raising £300m which would be invested back into the business for growth.

Mortgage lending was initially offered direct to customers, but Metro Bank opened up its intermediary residential and buy-to-let lending across England and Wales in late December 2014.

Metro Bank declined to comment.