A formal legal challenge has arisen at the Monaco private banking operation associated with Jason Bates, a co-founder of the UK digital bank Monzo. The matter involves Moncrief Private Bank (Monaco) S.A.M., previously known as Banque Havilland (Monaco) S.A.M., and stems from a regulatory decision the bank can contest in court.
In 2025, Bates joined Ukrainian fintech investor Maksym Koretskiy and long-time Monaco resident Jim McColl to acquire the Monaco subsidiary of the troubled Banque Havilland group.
The Luxembourg parent had lost its European banking license in 2024 after repeated anti-money-laundering and control failures.
The Monaco unit received separate regulatory clearance, was rebranded Moncrief Private Bank, and was positioned as an independent, technology-oriented private bank serving wealth management clients.
An on-site inspection by Monaco’s Autorité Monégasque de Sécurité Financière (AMSF) took place between July and September 2024.
The review examined the bank’s systems for identifying, assessing and mitigating risks of money laundering, terrorist financing and corruption.
In February 2026, the AMSF issued a formal statement of grievances.
After written submissions from the bank’s lawyers and a closed hearing in June 2026, the AMSF Sanctions Committee delivered its decision on 30 June 2026.
The committee upheld seven separate breaches.
These included an inadequate overall risk assessment that understated the proportion of high-risk and very-high-risk clients; shortcomings in customer due diligence and beneficial-ownership verification; weaknesses in ongoing transaction monitoring; and insufficient staffing for compliance functions.
Three of the failings repeated deficiencies already the subject of a formal reprimand in 2021.
The committee imposed a pecuniary sanction of one million euros and ordered that the decision be published in named form for three years.
The official decision, published in the Journal de Monaco on 10 July 2026, explicitly states that the bank may lodge a recours (appeal) before the Tribunal de première instance within two months of notification.
Court filings connected to that appeal process form the basis of the recently reported legal dispute.
Such an appeal allows the bank to challenge both the findings and the penalty amount before Monaco’s first-instance court.
The bank has argued in earlier proceedings that it has strengthened its compliance framework since the change of ownership and that its reduced size and limited economic weight should be taken into account.
The AMSF, however, concluded that the breadth, seriousness and recurrence of the breaches justified the fine, even after considering the institution’s more modest scale following separation from the former parent group.
The episode highlights the ongoing scrutiny private banks in Monaco face, a jurisdiction that maintains high regulatory standards for financial crime controls. For the new owners, the outcome of any court challenge will influence both the bank’s operational priorities and market perception as they seek to develop a modern wealth-focused offering.