FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 27 January 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Wirecard
Commerzbank files lawsuit against EY over €200m Wirecard losses
Commerzbank has filed a suit against the accounting firm in Frankfurt court, Reuters reports.
Singapore fintech Nium to acquire Wirecard Forex India
The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.
Dutch VC Finch Capital snaps up Wirecard’s APAC assets
The purchases were made through Nomu Pay.
Finch Capital acquires Wirecard’s Turkish operations
Investment firm sets up new payments brand in Turkey.
Santander to pay €100m for Wirecard’s core European business
The deal means the bank can expand its payment solution across Europe, says Santander’s CEO.
US holding firm Syncapay buys Wirecard’s North America business
Wirecard put the market value of its North American business at €824m.
Bulgaria’s Paynetics swoops in to buy part of Wirecard UK and Ireland
“Paynetics showed up as the white knight,” says Wirecard.
Wirecard operations cease in Singapore, MAS slaps down more charges
Wirecard SG needs to return all customer funds within the next two weeks.
Wirecard’s UK subsidiary WCS confirms Railsbank deal
Update 10/09/2020: An asset purchase agreement with Railsbank subsidiary PayrNet Limited has been signed.
Wirecard sells communication services arm to German start-up IDnow
IDnow will keep the majority of the arm’s 150 employees.
Wirecard lets 730 employees go, more than half its workforce
The Munich court opened insolvency proceedings on 25 August.
BaFin employees increasingly traded Wirecard shares
2.4% of all reported private financial transactions by its staff were transactions with Wirecard in H1.
Wirecard business partner reported dead in Philippines
Bauer’s company made up €291.4m of Wirecard’s 2018 profits.
EPA critiques FCA approach to Wirecard suspension
The EPA says the FCA should have reached out to it.
BaFin gets “sovereign powers” after Wirecard scandal
The plan will also strengthen APAS, the body that oversees auditing firms in Germany.
Former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun arrested again
Jan Marsalek, the former COO, is wanted under an international arrest warrant.
Deutsche Bank snags Wirecard exec Kilian Thalhammer
Thalhammer will be joining Deutsche Bank in October to oversee its Merchant Solutions arm.
What the Fintech? Episode 9 | Open banking: entering the mainstream
Coconut CEO, Sam O’Connor, shares his insight on the Plaid and Finicity acquisitions.
Wirecard’s UK subsidiary WCS: missed red flags
Red flags include late 2018 financials and a €156,000 lost lawsuit.
FCA lifts restrictions on Wirecard Card Solutions
UK watchdog allows payments to restart.
Curve gets services back online over weekend
The fintech is still working on third party digital wallet usage and refunds.
FCA suspends Wirecard’s UK subsidiary
This has prompted a handful of fintechs to issue warnings to their customers on Friday.
Wirecard files for insolvency amid accounting scandal
The paytech owes creditors almost $4 billion after disclosing a gaping hole in its books.
Wirecard’s former CEO Markus Braun arrested
Munich police say a criminal investigation into Wirecard has been launched.
Wirecard shares plummet as it announces €1.9bn of missing cash
EY couldn’t find the cash balances — which represent roughly a quarter of its balance sheet.
EY sued over Wirecard audit after management board comes under investigation
German regulator alleges Wirecard gave “misleading signals” for its stock market price.
Al Alam enters liquidation following KPMG’s Wirecard audit
The firm is central to whistleblower claims that Wirecard fraudulently inflated sales & profits.
KPMG’s Wirecard audit fails to verify payments processing profits
Six-month investigation into the German firm encounters stumbling blocks.
Wirecard signs payments processing partnership with Visa
The two firms will work on Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Program in the Middle East.
Wirecard, SAP and Futur/io launch ‘Innovation Now’ to assist merchants amid COVID-19
Merchants will be able to find “assistance packages” through the platform.
Wirecard expands ecommerce partnership with WeChat Pay
European merchants can integrate WeChat Pay “in just a few minutes”.
Wirecard strikes again with Klarna payments partnership
Also this week, Wirecard teamed with Southeast Asian ride-sharing firm Grab.
Wirecard and Singapore’s Grab partner on payments
The partnership will begin in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
Wirecard and Raiffeisen Bank team up to serve Eastern European markets
Raiffeisen Bank will use Wirecard to process payments across 13 Eastern European countries.
Investor rights lawyers investigate Wirecard securities fraud
Earlier this year, white-collar crime investigators raided Wirecard’s offices in Singapore.
IM payments arrive in Eastern Europe for Viber customers
Romanian Libra Internet Bank is acting as local acquirer.
Video: fintech news weekly round-up – 30 April 2019
SoftBank invests in Wirecard, Tencent in Argentinian Uala, and other Visa news.
Top fintech stories this week – 26 April 2019
Figure Eight acquired by Appen, T-mobile launches checking account, and RBS’ digital bank picks Mambu.
SoftBank invests €900m in Wirecard for APAC push
Wirecard is struggling amidst fraud investigations.
