Cross-party parliamentary group in UK starts inquiry into Wirecard

By Sunniva Kolostyak

The All-Party Group on Challenger Banks and Building Societies (APPG CBBS), a UK cross-party parliamentary group, has launched an inquiry into the collapse of German payments FinTech Wirecard.

The committee, which is looking into understanding the key issues behind the Wirecard collapse, will be taking evidence today from industry figures to identify whether a debacle of a similar kind could occur in the UK with a UK-regulated payment provider.

The APPG CBBS will be taking evidence from industry leaders including Eduard Panteleev, the Co-Founder and CEO of Anna Money, Virraj Jatania, the Co-Founder and CEO of Pockit, and Nigel Verdon, the Co-Founder and CEO of Railsbank.

Commenting, Karen Bradley MP, Chair of the APPG CBBS, said: “The Wirecard collapse has revealed that there are issues in the German regulatory regime for FinTech businesses with significant implications for UK firms and consumers. We’re taking evidence from leading challenger banks to better understand the issues and to see whether the same problem could occur here.”

With the interviews, the group hopes to understand the regulation of FinTech institutions and whether this is appropriate and proportionate to foster growth and to protect the public, and whether the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Bank of England’s approach have been different from that of BaFIN.

It is also aiming to identify whether regulators adequately understand the business models and risks presented by FinTech companies and if there are adequate procedures for whistle-blowers to alert regulators to problems in firms.

The APPG CBBS is led by Chair Karen Bradley MP (Conservative, Staffordshire Moorlands), as well as Vice-Chairs Jim McMahon MP (Labour/Co-op MP, Oldham West and Royton), Peter Gibson MP (Conservative, Darlington), Baroness Kramer (Lib Dem), Baroness Drake (Labour), and Baroness Wheatcroft (Conservative).

The group of MPs and Peers seeks to inform parliamentarians of all parties about the challenger banks and building societies sector and the challenges they face and to promote diversity within the sector.

In the previous parliamentary session, the APPG CBBS ran a series of inquires around access to financial services, diversity of provision and regulation.