It’s just been revealed that senior UK government ministers have asked to meet Revolut bosses following reports that the Bank of England might cull its UK licence application.
According to a Telegraph report yesterday, it’s believed that the BoE could be about to reject Revolut’s application for a UK banking licence following questions over its balance sheet.
Neobank Revolut is a popular app for buying and exchanging crypto. Having first applied for a licence in 2021, its plans had intended to offer UK customers regulated deposits and mortgages.
It’s believed that BoE regulators intend to reject the licence application after BDO, Revolut’s auditor, had previously raised questions over the firm’s finances.
According to the accounting firm in February, Revolut’s revenues for 2021 “may be materially misstated”.
In addition, there have been resignations by several key members of staff, including CFO Mikko Salovaara and James Radford, head of the bank’s UK business.
And now, in the past hour, a new report in The Guardian has revealed that the UK government ministers has asked to meet Revolut bosses.
The Guardian added that the meeting is likely to include Treasury and business ministers and will happen in the next week, with Revolut expected to be represented by its chief executive, Nik Storonsky, and its chairman, Martin Gilbert of Aberdeen Asset Management.
Revolut and Britain
Revolut’s Nik Storonsky has previously stated that “extreme bureaucracy” in Britain makes it very hard to do business in the country.
Storonsky said: “It’s hard to do business in the UK: the exchange is much less liquid so I just don’t see the point.
“In the UK there are higher taxes to pay and an extremely bureaucratic regulator.”
He also stated that he wanted to keep Revolut in privately owned, but would choose the Nasdaq in the US over London if it went public.
