Bank of England orders review of Revolut’s product approval processes The Bank of England’s PRA has ordered a Section 166 review of Revolut’s product approval processes, according to the Financial Times. The order came earlier this year, around the time Revolut finally secured its full UK banking licence in March. The aim is to examine the risks around rapid launches of new financial products and better understand the robustness of the group’s internal systems. A Section 166 forces a firm to appoint external experts—accountants or lawyers—to examine its controls and produce a report with recommendations. It is an evidence-gathering tool. If failures are found, regulators can then impose penalties or take other action. This follows earlier action by the European Central Bank. Last year the ECB found “deficiencies” in Revolut’s new product approval processes and ordered a third-party review of its risk, compliance and legal functions governing new product launches in Europe. The move came after CEO Nik Storonsky said he likes employees to act like “self-guided missiles” with little oversight when developing products. Revolut’s wait for a full UK licence was already the longest of any bank in the country. With the licence now granted, the Section 166 shows regulators still want extra safeguards in place before Revolut pushes further into core banking products. The practical question is how far this slows product velocity. Whoever leaked the detail has also made visible a level of supervisory attention we normally don't know about.