Revolut faces mounting pressure over late accounts

REVoLUT has come under fire after failing to file its accounts on time.

The challenger bank missed its September deadline to file its figures for 2021 and was given an extension to the end of last year. But it also missed that deadline, meaning its figures are almost two weeks overdue.

The failure to file its accounts to Companies House on time has raised fears over its financial position. It drew scorn from Dan neidle, founder of the nonprofit tax advice and policy group Tax Policy Associates, who said the company’s behaviour would be ‘unthinkable’ for traditional banks such as Barclays or HSBC.

‘Why does a major company like Revolut think it’s oK to break the law and fail to file its accounts on time?’ neidle wrote on Twitter, adding that ‘obeying the law isn’t a choice’.

However, a Revolut spokesman said its accounts were ‘finalised’ and it expected the figures to confirm ‘previously reported news’ that the group was profitable. ‘ We are very proud of this and intend to file the accounts in the new year,’ the spokesman added.

The central bank of Lithuania fined Revolut £61,840 last year after one of its European subsidiaries failed to submit audited accounts to the country’s regulator. It is understood the delay in the UK is connected to a dispute between Revolut’s auditor BDo and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the accounting sector’s watchdog.

BDo’s audits are under scrutiny by the watchdog, meaning additional paperwork is required before accounts can be signed off. BDo was criticised by the FRC last year for an ‘inadequate’ audit of Revolut’s accounts.

Despite the delays, the numbers for 2021 are expected to confirm Revolut’s profitability and reveal it is raking in money from its foreign exchange business and drawing in around 20m clients, which would make it one of the biggest financial tech companies in the world.