Singapore Tells Wirecard to Keep Customer Funds in Local Banks

Singapore has told Wirecard AG to ensure it keeps customer funds from its payments processing business in the city state in local banks, the financial regulator said.

Wirecards primary business activites in Singapore are to process payments for merchants and help companies issue pre-paid cards, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said Tuesday in an emailed reply to questions.

“MAS has required Wirecard to ensure that they keep customer funds arising from these activities in banks in Singapore,” a MAS spokesperson said in the email.

Shares in the German firm have collapsed in recent days amid an accounting scandal and worries about Wirecards credit facilities.

The company on Monday acknowledged that 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) previously reported as assets probably doesn‘t exist. Bank of China Ltd., China’s fourth-largest lender, may write off most of the 80 million euros ($90 million) it is owed and not extend the credit line, according to people familiar with the matter.

Wirecard entities in Singapore are not currently regulated by the MAS, though the central bank has received a license application from Wirecard under the new Payments Services Act, the regulator said.

The act provides for a grace period for entities conducting regulated activities to apply for a license, the MAS said. It may issue requirements to such entities during the grace period, it added.

Singapore is home to Wirecard‘s Asia-Pacific headquarters and the company has been expanding aggressively in the region, which accounted for almost 45% of the group’s reported revenue in 2018, second only to Europe.

The companys regional operations cover Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, according to its website.