Lithuanian Central Bank Hits Revolut With A €3.5 Million Fine
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Revolut recently encountered another legal issue, this time in Lithuania, whose central bank slapped the company with a €3.5 million fine after identifying deficiencies in its anti-money laundering (AML) controls.
The Bank of Lithuania is in charge of overseeing Revolut’s banking operations in Europe, alongside the European Central Bank. Commenting on the company’s failings in monitoring business relationships and customer transactions, the bank decided to introduce the sanction.
According to the watchdog, Revolut’s failings in handling AML have led to it not always properly identifying suspicious monetary operations or transactions that its customers carry out.
Revolut Must Improve Its Systems Even If No One Abused Them Yet
The Bank of Lithuania investigated the platform, but did not manage to confirm that anyone used the company’s shortcomings to actually conduct money laundering. Despite this, it decided to fine the platform, as Revolut still needs to improve its existing AML controls. The fact that no one abused its services to launder money, while fortunate, doesn’t mean that no one will decide to do so at a later date.
As a result, the reprimand marks the steepest penalty in the company’s history. It is also worth noting that it is the largest fine that the Lithuanian central bank has ever issued. It came after the €70,000 fine that Lithuanian regulators imposed previously, in 2022. Back then, Revolut had to pay this fine for failing to submit its financial statements on time.
In other words, this is not Revolut’s first penalty imposed by Lithuanian authorities, which is likely to bring further attention to it moving forward.
The company’s spokesperson said that Revolut Bank UAB is committed to the highest standards of regulatory compliance. As such, it is ready to cooperate with the Bank of Lithuania and take immediate action to address the procedural deficiencies that the bank has identified.
The bank confirmed that Revolut has already signed a statement with it, and is taking steps to resolve its shortcomings.
