Monzo Investor Group Seeks to Reinstate FinTech’s CEO

A group of shareholders in digital bank Monzo reportedly want to reinstate its outgoing CEO.

TS Anil is due to step down as head of the U.K. company in February, but these investors hope to keep him in the chief executive position, the Financial Times (FT) reported Wednesday (Dec. 17), citing sources familiar with the matter.

Investors have teamed and hired attorneys as they seek greater shareholder representation on the board after Anil’s surprise departure was announced in October, the report said.

Sources told the FT that the group is lobbying for the removal of Monzo chair Gary Hoffman, and that Anil be retained as CEO.

“The investors are currently working constructively with the board to find the right way forward acting in the interest of all Monzo’s stakeholders,” said a source close to the investor group.

Two of the sources said the group had won the support of investors who hold more than 40% of Monzo’s shares. PYMNTS has contacted Monzo for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

The report follows an FT report from Tuesday (Dec. 16) that Anil had been asked to leave by the board over tensions surrounding a planned initial public offering (IPO), with the CEO pushing to list the company sooner than some board members wished.

Monzo had announced in October that Anil would step down, with Google executive Diana Layfield taking his place.

In a memo to staff at the time, Anil discussed the process for hiring Layfield, former general manager of search international and growth at Google. He said he had initially been searching for someone to serve as Monzo’s U.K. CEO as the company looks to expand beyond the UK.

“Through our conversations, it became clear to me that she’d be a fantastic leader who could drive the business at the global level, into this next chapter and beyond,” Anil wrote. “So, while it wasn’t in my plan, I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss for Monzo.”

Anil, a Visa veteran who joined Monzo in 2020, is set to shift into an advisory role at the company, the memo said.

Also this week, Mozno announced it is set to acquire British mortgage broker Habito. The company says this deal will make Monzo the first bank in the U.K. to offer a “fully end-to-end mortgage broking experience” within its app. The deal is expected to become final in the spring of next year. Financial terms were not disclosed.