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Revolut misreads report.

Revolut misreads report.

The UK neobank incorrectly portrays audit

So far, the best demonstrated use case for AI has been to dress up Pope Francis in a Balenciaga puffer jacket. Many believed the image to be genuine, including myself. It was sad to learn that the image was not actually real and that, in fact, the Pope was rushed to hospital yesterday after contracting a respiratory infection. If only he had been as rugged up as the AI version of himself, he might not have caught a chill.

The lowdown

🚀 Virgin Orbit will cease operations after failing to secure funding.
🔋 Ford takes $4.5 billion stake in Indonesian battery metals plant to guarantee EV supply.
🗞️ News organizations reject Twitter’s demand that they pay for a blue checkmark.

Featured stories

Revolut CEO Nikolay Storonsky. Credit: REUTERS/Pedro Nunes.

Revolut incorrectly portrays audit

Last month, BDO warned that Revolut’s revenues "may be materially misstated" and said the overdue 2021 accounts gave a true and fair view "except for the possible effects of the matters described in the 'basis for qualified opinion' section of our report."

Revolut appears to have interpreted this as a clean bill of health and released a public statement to that effect. This reportedly frustrated its board ($), with some members feeling it showed a lack of understanding of what BDO's opinion meant. The statement also raised eyebrows in the accounting industry.

The board has been under pressure to improve Revolut's culture and governance as it seeks a UK banking license. But banking license or not, with everything going on in banking right now, it would be a daring depositor that opens an account at a bank that may lack an understanding of accounting rules.

The content we're consuming today

The Economist: How to fix the global rice crisis ($).
Odd Lots podcast: Matt King sees a $1 trillion liquidity drain heading for markets.
FT: I used AI to bet on horse-racing. Here’s what happened ($).

Off-balance sheet items

Every now and again, it’s nice to supplement all the business and finance news with something that is a better fit for a gossip column – here is a podcast on the Peltz-Beckham wedding fall-out.