Last week the UK’s top financial markets watchdog ordered Wirecard to freeze all of its regulated activities in the country. Now it has lifted the ban.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ordered Wirecard to halt all activities on June 26 after a week that saw the German FinTech’s crisis spiral. The scandal first hit the wire after auditor Ernes & Young (EY) refused to sign off on German FinTech giant Wirecard’s financial statement for 2019 after it discovered a €1.9bn ($2.1bn) shaped black hole in its finances. Just a few days later the payment company admitted that the money may not have existed at all in the first place.
In the days that followed, Wirecard’s former CEO Markus Braun has been arrested on accusations of having inflated the company’s total assets and sales volumes and Wirecard filed for insolvency on Thursday June 25.
After the FCA ordered the ban on Friday June 26, companies like Curve, Pockit, ANNA Money and Holvi all had to suspend parts of their services. Although, it seems like some of these companies had already made arrangements that would enable them to resume their services before the FCA announced that it was lifting the ban.
“Our primary objective all along has been to protect the interests and money of consumers who use Wirecard,” the FCA said in a statement. “We have been working closely with Wirecard UK and other authorities over the last few days to ensure that the firm was able to meet certain conditions required to lift the restrictions we imposed on it. We are now in a position to allow Wirecard to resume operational activity.
“This means customers will now, or very shortly, be able to use their cards as usual. If any customers are still experiencing difficulties in using their card, they should contact their card provider directly and should do so using the contact details on their website.
“We know that some people may have faced difficulties over the weekend and we worked with DWP, HMT and the Home Office in order to help anyone suffering financial distress. Anyone who is still in difficulties should see our website for more details.
“We continue to work with the firm and are monitoring it closely to ensure it meets the conditions we have imposed and continues to protect consumers money. Find out more information.”
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