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The sins of the father? I wonder if there's more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye here. It seems very strange to me that Lithuania, who has put a

The sins of the father? I wonder if there's more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye here. It seems very strange to me that Lithuania, who has put a massive amount of effort into becoming a friendly location for fintechs would risk alienating such a big company on such a flimsy pretext as the founder being Russian with a Russian father at Gazprom (I'm ignoring the server piece because I don't know what to make of that - Russia is a big market and if they wanted to expand I believe they need to have servers locally and it may be a cost cutting move). edit to add sources for context: https://sifted.eu/articles/emoney-authorisation-lithuania/ https://sifted.eu/articles/emoney-authorisation-lithuania/ - article describing Lithuania's push to become a fintech capital https://investlithuania.com/key-sectors/technology/fintech/ https://investlithuania.com/key-sectors/technology/fintech/ - Government website describing the process and their 'forward thinking' regulation https://www.engadget.com/2019/02/05/apple-russian-user-data-local-servers/ https://www.engadget.com/2019/02/05/apple-russian-user-data-... - article about Apple's storing of some user data on servers in Russia to comply with the local data law

oytis 8y ago
It's totally wrong to revoke the banking license simply because the founder's father is a bad boy. But it's a good reason to start the investigation. Probably that should even have been started before the license was given, not just now. Revolut is also funded by another Russian oligarch, Juri Milner - too many coincidences to me, and definitely worth digging deeper.
- rchaud 8y ago
  Gazprom logos are common on stadium billboards and team jerseys in a number of European football leagues, so that alone probably doesn't raise suspicion. It's probably the fact that this is a firm handling a lot of other people's money, in an industry that's tightly regulated to reduce fraud, money laundering etc.
ksajadi 8y ago
Is it only about the father? They moved (or announced) their servers to Russia and have been known to abuse personal data (at least in the UK) of their customers. Now all of those might be coincidence...
wfn 8y ago
> I wonder if there's more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye here. There are additional risks for Lithuania with regards to Revolut which are not often discussed (but they have been raised by the parties concerned, and others, etc.) Consider: Revolut is now (with its new banking license) able to take in customer deposits. They are (by law) insured by the state (up to a certain sum). If the bank goes bust, the state-owned insurer is on the hook. Now consider Revolut's pan-European expansion plans (flaunting and expecting continued aggressive growth). There is a lot of exposure here; through a pretty dodgy company no less. So there really is a lot to consider here. Bank of Lithuania (a regulatory body) inviting Revolut themselves also doesn't look too good. Hence parliamentary oversight steps in, with legitimate concern on hand. Bear in mind that core intention is not always seeped in some kind of behind-the-scenes malice, or pure populism, or what have you. I personally see fintech as a field with some interesting companies and potential for innovation, but also as a possible catalyst / accelerator of the next tech-related bubble bust. One should invest into the field with care and cautiousness.
- vincnetas 8y ago
  Only deposits are insured. Having account on Revolut does not count as a deposit. So until Revolut starts offering such option there is no risk. And not sure if current license permits accepting deposits.
  - wfn 8y ago
    Yes, of course; but deposits will come, Revolut communicated as much (IIRC). Also (IIRC) the license does permit accepting deposits, but as of now there are limits / quantity constraints imposed. So there is that. But those limits can be raised (and intuition (not knowledge) tells me it may not be hard; but this also stems from my distrust of BoL and its regulatory oversight capacity).

oytis 8y ago

It's totally wrong to revoke the banking license simply because the founder's father is a bad boy. But it's a good reason to start the investigation. Probably that should even have been started before the license was given, not just now. Revolut is also funded by another Russian oligarch, Juri Milner - too many coincidences to me, and definitely worth digging deeper.

rchaud 8y ago
Gazprom logos are common on stadium billboards and team jerseys in a number of European football leagues, so that alone probably doesn't raise suspicion. It's probably the fact that this is a firm handling a lot of other people's money, in an industry that's tightly regulated to reduce fraud, money laundering etc.

ksajadi 8y ago

Is it only about the father? They moved (or announced) their servers to Russia and have been known to abuse personal data (at least in the UK) of their customers. Now all of those might be coincidence...

wfn 8y ago

> I wonder if there's more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye here. There are additional risks for Lithuania with regards to Revolut which are not often discussed (but they have been raised by the parties concerned, and others, etc.) Consider: Revolut is now (with its new banking license) able to take in customer deposits. They are (by law) insured by the state (up to a certain sum). If the bank goes bust, the state-owned insurer is on the hook. Now consider Revolut's pan-European expansion plans (flaunting and expecting continued aggressive growth). There is a lot of exposure here; through a pretty dodgy company no less. So there really is a lot to consider here. Bank of Lithuania (a regulatory body) inviting Revolut themselves also doesn't look too good. Hence parliamentary oversight steps in, with legitimate concern on hand. Bear in mind that core intention is not always seeped in some kind of behind-the-scenes malice, or pure populism, or what have you. I personally see fintech as a field with some interesting companies and potential for innovation, but also as a possible catalyst / accelerator of the next tech-related bubble bust. One should invest into the field with care and cautiousness.

vincnetas 8y ago
Only deposits are insured. Having account on Revolut does not count as a deposit. So until Revolut starts offering such option there is no risk. And not sure if current license permits accepting deposits.
- wfn 8y ago
  Yes, of course; but deposits will come, Revolut communicated as much (IIRC). Also (IIRC) the license does permit accepting deposits, but as of now there are limits / quantity constraints imposed. So there is that. But those limits can be raised (and intuition (not knowledge) tells me it may not be hard; but this also stems from my distrust of BoL and its regulatory oversight capacity).