PRA Orders Skilled-Person Review of Revolut's Product Approval Controls
PRA Orders Skilled-Person Review of Revolut’s Product Approval Controls #
The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority has issued a formal order requiring Revolut to submit its product approval processes to external scrutiny, according to the Financial Times. The order came shortly after the company received a full UK banking licence earlier this year.
The PRA issued a Section 166 order, also known as a skilled-person review, earlier in 2026, timed roughly to coincide with Revolut’s UK banking licence grant in March. The order requires the company to appoint outside experts, typically accountants or lawyers, to assess its internal systems and controls around the launch of new financial products. The reviewers will issue a report with recommendations for improvements. If the investigation identifies material failings, the regulator could impose penalties or initiate enforcement action.
Both Revolut and the Bank of England declined to comment.
The review coincides with a period of rapid product expansion at the company. On 26 October, Revolut announced it would begin offering unsecured personal loans in the UK, ranging from approximately £2,000 to £25,000. The firm also disclosed a partnership with asset management group Carne that will allow customers to invest in private technology companies, extending its offering beyond payments and crypto trading.
That expansion appears to be a focus of the PRA’s concerns. Revolut’s leadership has encouraged a culture of fast product development with limited centralised oversight. CEO Nik Storonsky reportedly told staff to act like “self-guided missiles” when launching new products. The approach has supported rapid growth but drawn repeated regulatory scrutiny. The Bank of England was previously reported to have delayed granting Revolut a banking licence over doubts about whether the company’s risk controls could keep pace with its overseas expansion.
The PRA’s move follows similar regulatory action in Europe. In 2025, the European Central Bank imposed growth restrictions on Revolut’s European operations after identifying deficiencies in its product approval procedures and required the firm to commission a separate third-party review of the risk, compliance, and legal functions overseeing new product launches across the continent.
The Section 166 review puts Revolut’s product development practices under formal examination as the company begins using its UK licence to compete with established high-street banks in consumer lending and investment services.
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