N26 is appointing former Bundesbank executive board member Andreas Dombret as the new chair of its supervisory board. This decision follows the recent exit of founder Valentin Stalf, with current chair Marcus Mosen stepping up to co-CEO alongside co-founder Maximilian Tayenthal.
The leadership changes aim to resolve ongoing tensions between investors and the co-founders, who collectively hold about 20% of N26’s shares. Investors sought these changes after a BaFin special audit revealed “weaknesses in the internal control systems, processes, and overall organization,” as noted in N26’s annual report.
The financial regulator plans to issue a formal warning to two members of N26’s management board and will implement a special monitor. This scrutiny comes a year after BaFin lifted a cap on the number of new customers N26 could onboard, a restriction originally imposed due to inadequate money laundering controls, which also included a €9.2 million fine. The cap was initially set at 50,000 new customers per month and was later raised to 60,000 in 2023, significantly constraining growth for Germany’s leading fintech.