Sources: the UK delayed Revolut's banking license over concerns about its crypto trading service and whether the company can tackle money laundering and fraud
Context & Ripple Effects
This report is the opening beat of what became a multi-year licensing saga for Revolut. The concerns Bloomberg flagged here — the crypto trading service and money-laundering controls — set the terms of engagement with UK regulators, who later forced the startup to simplify its ownership structure, prompting SoftBank to demand compensation as a top shareholder caught in the restructuring.
The arc since then runs from the UK banking license finally granted in mid-2024 after more than three years to the Bank of England still holding up the full license in late 2025 over whether risk controls can keep pace with global growth — meaning the questions raised in this 2022 report were never fully closed.
First-order effects
- Revolut's roughly 9M UK customers remain on a restricted footing while the license is delayed, and the company must answer regulator scrutiny of both its crypto trading service and its fraud and money-laundering defenses before gaining full deposit-taking status.
Second-order effects
- Regulator pressure to simplify ownership directly hit investors — SoftBank sought compensation for the restructuring the license required — showing how approval conditions translate into shareholder-level costs.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, licensing friction pushes fintech founders toward friendlier jurisdictions: CEO Nik Storonsky has already shifted his residency to the UAE while awaiting the full UK license, and Revolut scrapped a US lender acquisition to apply directly for a US charter, betting on lighter-touch approvals.
The trend: Fintech banking licenses are becoming multi-year negotiations where crypto exposure and financial-crime controls decide not just timing but where companies choose to domicile and list their ambitions.