Revolut closer to British licence after resolving audit concerns

REVOLUT’S battle to secure a UK banking licence has been given a boost after auditors said the fintech had resolved issues relating to revenues and internal controls.

In delayed annual accounts released yesterday, the British company said the matter of potentially misstated revenues in 2021 had been “resolved” and said auditors had approved the latest set of figures. This will raise hopes that Revolut can move closer to securing its long-awaited banking licence, which has been held up since it first applied in January 2021.

Revolut was heavily scrutinised earlier this year after BDO raised warnings over almost £477m of revenues. Auditors said revenues “may be materially misstated” because of flaws linked to internal systems.

However, Revolut said in its latest results that this hurdle has now been cleared. The fintech firm’s latest financials revealed a £25.4m loss for the year, down from a £39.8m profit in 2021.

That was driven by rising costs offsetting a windfall from higher interest rates, as revenues rose by 45pc to £922.5m. Despite waving through Revolut’s accounts, BDO said there are still potential issues regarding the “comparability” of revenue figures between 2021 and 2022.

Nik Storonsky, Revolut’s chief executive, said it “remained committed” to its UK banking licence application. It received an extension to file its 2022 accounts after filing its 2021 numbers months late. Revolut has been waiting more than two years to secure a banking licence, which would allow it to conduct more regulated activities, such as mortgage and credit card lending.

The Telegraph revealed in May that the Bank of England was considering rejecting Revolut’s application. It told Revolut that it must produce a set of accounts with an unqualified audit opinion and simplify its share structure.

Victor Stinga, Revolut’s chief financial officer, said it had “since remediated these gaps” and worked with BDO “to conduct extensive testing of both the design and effectiveness of our controls”. Mr Storonsky’s pay jumped significantly during the year, increasing from £10m in 2021 to more than £17.8m.