Revolut CFO Mikko Salovaara resigns amid banking licence delays

Financial technology company Revolut announced yesterday that its Chief Financial Officer, Mikko Salovaara, aged 31, will be departing the firm after two years in the position. A spokesperson for the London-based start-up cited “personal reasons” as the cause for his resignation. At this time, no successor has been named by Revolut.

The company has been going through a challenging period in recent months. In March, audit firm BDO issued a qualified opinion regarding Revolut’s 2021 accounts, warning that revenue-related information might have been “materially misstated.” This disclosure attracted regulatory attention, leading to further delays in Revolut’s quest to obtain a UK banking licence. The company submitted its application for the licence roughly two years ago.

Despite these setbacks, Salovaara had expressed confidence in the firm’s progress with regulators, stating that they were at the “very final stage of the process” and maintaining that their relationship with UK authorities had been “reasonable.”

The UK is a crucial market for Revolut, which aspires to become a prominent global financial institution. Chief Executive Nikolay Storonsky used a statement to express his appreciation for Salovaara’s work at the company: “I thank Mikko for his contribution and wish him well on his next steps.”

Salovaara’s departure was first reported by the Financial Times yesterday, reports Channel News Asia.