The Bank of Italy has banned the local entity of online German fintech N26 (PC42 profile) from signing up new customers, due to checks late last year that flagged money laundering risks, Reuters informed on 29 March 2022. Moreover, N26 is also not be allowed to offer new products and services like crypto assets.
The Bank of Italy said it adopted the measures “following inspections, conducted between Oct 25 and Dec 17, 2021, which highlighted significant shortcomings in complying with anti-money laundering regulation.” According to the regulator, N26 took measures to remedy such shortcomings and it would assess the anomalies that have been fully overcome, before considering revising the current decision.
It’s not the first time N26 has had issues with its AML procedures. In Sept 2021, it was fined €4.25 million over failures in anti-money laundering by German supervisor BaFin.
N26 recently considered an Initial Public Offering (IPO), which would happen at some point, though the company said it wasn’t really committing yet. Founder and co-CEO Maximilian Tayenthal said private markets had been “incredibly liquid.” In Oct 2021, N26 successfully raised $900 at a valuation of more than $900.