Revolut CFO quits for 'personal reasons'

Revolut CFO quits for 'personal reasons'

Revolut has lost another senior executive, with chief financial officer Mikko Salovaara leaving the fintech giant for "personal reasons". Separately, Wise CEO Kristo Kaarmann is set to take a three-month sabbatical.

Salovaara leaves Revolut as the firm's two-year quest to secure a UK banking licence appears in trouble, with the Financial Times reporting that the process has "nearly halted".

At the beginning of March, Salovaara - who joined Revolut in 2021 - had signalled that the unusually-long process to secure a licence was coming to a close, promising that it would arrive "any day now".

In a statement, he says: "I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as Group CFO at Revolut and remain confident in the firm’s future success."

CEO Nik Storonsky adds: "I thank Mikko for his contribution and wish him well on his next steps."

Following a six-month delay, Revolut finally filed its accounts in March. However, auditor BDO flagged concerns that it could not verify £477m of revenue, nor vouch for their “completeness or occurrence”, due to the configuration of Revolut's internal IT systems.

Salovaara's exit follows the departure of a number of senior employees in the last year, including UK chief risk officer Victoria Stubbs, UK head of regulatory compliance Justine Wootton and UK money laundering reporting officer Mathew Seneviratne.

Separately, Wise chief Kristo Kaarmann is taking a three-month sabbatical from September to help look after his new-born son. Chief technology officer Harsh Sinha will fill in.

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Comments: (2)

A Finextra member
A Finextra member 11 May, 2023, 17:40Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

So.....it appears the whole risk, compliance, and money laundering team leaders have left,  the CFO has left, and the Accountants say that the banks IT systems cant  count revenues...... Or.... if the systems can count, the Accountants cant verify the banks count... it seems that  $477M, out of the reported $1Bn of revenue claimed in 2022 may not be there?                                                                                                      I have to admit this is a very cursory review of the facts..  There may yet be 'triples all round at revolut' ?  or tears before bedtime?  Time will tell....and they are now big enough to pull through!  

A Finextra member
A Finextra member 12 May, 2023, 19:18Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

How is it possible to lose $477M of revenue and your auditor says sorry couldn't find it...What is the point of an auditor if this is possible?? Or have I missed the something??

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