Revolut announced this Thursday, June 11th, the arrival of Paulo Guedes to join the newly created advisory board, established to guide the British fintech company in its next steps in Brazil.
The idea is that the former Minister of Economy in Jair Bolsonaro 's government will contribute his macroeconomic knowledge and extensive network of international relationships at a time when the fintech company is gaining scale in the country and seeking to deepen its local operations, with plans including obtaining a banking license.
“The minister has lived through moments of crisis, moments of growth, and has led successful projects in several banks, from his time at Pactual, through Bozano, as well as in education companies. He is an experienced economist and also has experience in government,” says Glauber Mota , CEO of Revolut in Brazil, to NeoFeed . “He brings a great deal of technical complementarity to us.”
In addition to Guedes, Revolut is bringing in two other names to serve as independent advisors on its advisory board. One of them is Ana Novaes, who has previously served on the board of B3 and the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC) . The other is Luiz Henrique Lobo, who has been responsible for risk areas at banks such as Rabobank and Banco Pan .
The board, a model that Revolut has already adopted in other operations, will also include Mota, representing the fintech company, as well as another name linked to the company, which is yet to be defined.
Guedes' arrival at Revolut bears similarities to the move made by Nubank last year, when it appointed Roberto Campos Neto , former president of the Central Bank during the Bolsonaro administration, to be vice-chairman of the British fintech's main competitor.
While Campos Neto was hired to meet Nubank's global ambitions, Guedes arrives to help expand Revolut's local presence, whose market cap is on track to be twice that of Nubank.
Present in the country since mid-2023, Revolut has been growing in the local market , operating through a Direct Credit Society (SCD) license. The fintech started by offering a multi-currency global account and subsequently expanded its offering to include accounts in reais (Brazilian currency), Pix (Brazil's instant payment system), interest-bearing balances, investments, credit products, and subscription plans.
Without going into details, since the company does not disclose data by geography, Mota states that Brazil is among Revolut's three fastest-growing markets.
However, the SCD (Sociedade de Crédito Direto - Direct Credit Society) limits the company's operations, since it lends resources originating from its own cash flow or capital structures linked to the institution, and not from public deposits. But, given the results, the plan is to "move up a category".
The expectation is that the advisors, with their experience in regulation, compliance , and financial infrastructure, can help the company prepare to become a bank. Mota says there is no deadline for obtaining the banking license, but the idea is to be prepared, in terms of governance, to obtain the authorization.
“It’s natural that our next step, as is Revolut’s ambition worldwide, is to evolve towards a more robust regulatory framework,” says Mota. “And that’s where governance comes in. We prefer to be one step ahead of what the regulator requires.”
He states that the board may gain statutory status later on, when the company decides to seek a banking license. Currently, Revolut has risk and finance committees, in line with what is required of banks by the Central Bank (BC).
