Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin, announced on 15 December 2025 that it was imposing a package of enhanced supervisory measures on N26 Bank GmbH, the Berlin-based digital bank. The measures, which stem directly from findings produced by a special audit conducted in 2024, include an order requiring N26 to maintain higher capital reserves than standard regulatory minimums, the formal appointment of a special monitor, and a prohibition on offering new mortgage products to customers in the Netherlands.
The announcement marks the second occasion on which BaFin has mandated a special monitor for N26, having first taken that step in 2021 over deficiencies in the bank's anti-money laundering controls.
SECOND SPECIAL MONITOR IN FOUR YEARS
Special monitors act as the regulator's direct observers within the institution, reviewing management decisions, scrutinising risk control frameworks, assessing the adequacy of compliance functions, and reporting their findings and assessments directly to BaFin.
The December regulatory action coincided with N26 naming UBS executive Mike Dargan as its next chief executive, and came after the bank had reported its first quarterly profits in 2024.
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