Revolut boss throws bank licence tantrum

Revolut’s boss has berated regulators for not giving it a UK banking license – just months after the payments app said it was expecting the green light ‘soon’.

Revolut has been seeking regulatory approval for more than two years, which would allow it to expand its services in the UK into deposit-taking and lending.

In early March, the company said a license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) would be granted “immediately” – possibly within days.

But after a warning from his accountant that parts of his accounts “contain material misstatements,” it’s still waiting.

Smaller rivals such as Monzo and Starling already have UK banking licences, while the Estonian LHV bank got one this week.

In an outburst yesterday – labeled “sour grapes” by a City observer – Nik Storonsky, co-founder and CEO of Revolut, said getting approval has been a “long and tiring process” and warned that Britain an undesirable place to do business.

‘You wait months for e-mails or letters. This is not the business climate to operate in the modern world,” he told The Times, adding that there was a “slowdown” in British technology despite political ambitions to become the next Silicon Valley. ‘A lot of people used to come to London; it was the place to be. That has now changed.’

Storonksy’s comments come as his company comes under increasing scrutiny. London-based Revolut raised eyebrows after the latest accounts were five months late, with the BDO accountant stating that some parts were “materially misstated.”

This included three-quarters of the £636 million turnover in 2021, which BDO says it could not independently verify. Revolut was also criticized by the FCA in March and was ordered to change or remove an ad within 48 hours.

The watchdog declined to provide details, but the rules state: “All advertisements and promotions for financial services must be fair, clear and not misleading.”

The company also suffered a setback last month when Schroders valued it at £14bn, a far cry from the £27bn price tag it boasted in its latest round of funding in 2021.

Danni Hewson, a financial analyst at AJ Bell, said there was an element of “sour grapes” in Storonsky’s comments. “I think Britain has become a bit of a punching bag for people who don’t get their way in business,” she said.

Revolut was founded in 2015 by Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko. It has 28 million customers and operates in more than 200 countries.

Storonsky told The Times that he would choose New York over London if he ever put the company on the stock exchange.