Proactive Investors - Revolut has appointed a former Barclays (LON:BARC) and Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) executive as its new UK boss as it continues its long wait for a banking licence.
Francesca Carlesi, who spent three years as global head of regulatory chief at Deutsche Bank and two as head of strategy planning at Barclays, more recently founded and was CEO of digital mortgage lender Molo Finance, where she sold a majority stake earlier this year.
A spokesperson for the fintech told media that the appointment was not linked to its application for a UK banking licence.
Currently, UK customers for the London-headquartered startup can access e-money services, while customer's deposits are held in a third-party licenced bank.
Revolut holds a banking license for the European Economic Area, which was granted by the Bank of Lithuania.
A UK banking license would allow it to offer mortgages, personal loans and issue credit cards, as well as customer deposit protection from the state up to £85,000.
It has been an up-and-down year for Revolut, with long-delayed 2021 results published in March with auditor BDO warning that some information “may be materially misstated”, with following months seeing the exit of its finance chief, reports emerge that another rejection of its banking licence application was incoming.
More recently the firm was reported to be close to overcoming a key obstacle to its licence application, by agreeing to simplify its ownership structure as primary stakeholder Softbank has been forced to give up its priority shares.
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