Wise denied US banking licence months after moving primary listing to New York
Shares in fintech firm Wise tumbled this morning after its application for a US banking licence was rejected because of ‘deficiencies’ in its anti-money-laundering checks.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) denied Wise’s application as it was incompatible with the Federal Reserve’s new policies for payment system access, the firm said.
Shares in Wise fell 6.34 per cent or 57.40p to 848.00p on Friday, having dropped nearly 20 per cent in the past year.
The rejection marks a major setback for the payments giant in its largest growth market just months after it switched its primary stock market listing from London to New York, keeping a secondary listing in the City.
Wise said the decision would not affect its existing US business and that it planned to submit a new banking licence application.
The British fintech firm said its initial application had been submitted more than a year ago and that it had since implemented changes to its compliance systems, customer checks and financial crime controls.
Rejected: Shares in Wise fell nearly 7% on Friday after a US watchdog rejected its banking licence application
The OCC in the US flagged ‘longstanding… deficiencies’ in the fintech’s anti-money- laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems.
It said Wise would need to resolve these issues before it could be deemed to be complying effectively.
The OCC also pointed to the lack of experience of Wise’s proposed US management team as a factor in its decision.
It said: ‘Wise US has no historical experience with fiduciary activities, and proposed management and directors failed to demonstrate sufficient experience with the fiduciary activities of national banks.’
A banking licence would enable Wise to operate under one federal regulator rather than relying on dozens of state licences, making it easier to expand its products in the US.
Wise said: ‘We have invested significantly in enhancing our processes and controls globally and in the US since the original application for the trust charter was prepared, including those to prevent financial crime alongside other forms of risk’.
Last month, Wise said it was answering questions from Belgian prosecutors investigating money laundering, sending its shares tumbling 20 per cent in one day.
Prosecutors in Belgium reportedly opened the investigation in 2025, on the basis that Wise accounts had allegedly featured in hundreds of requests for cross-border help in criminal proceedings from more than 30 countries across Europe.
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