EU lawmakers have urged Lithuania to tighten its financial oversight after it was revealed that a Vilnius-based FinTech was involved in the Wirecard scandal, according to The Financial Times (FT.)
UAB Finolita Unio is suspected to have stolen over €100 million from Wirecard weeks before the company collapsed.
Some of the money is believed to have been channelled to Wirecard’s ex-chief operating officer Jan Marsalek, who is currently on Interpol’s most-wanted list after fleeing before the company filed for insolvency.
Stasys Jakeliunas, MEP for the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, told the newspaper that he hoped the case would be a “wake-up call” for Lithuanian authorities.
“It’s what to be expected,” he said to the FT. “FinTech needs agile supervision and regulation, and that is missing both at the central bank and not least the financial crime investigation service. They are not keeping up with these fast-moving, innovative businesses.”
Documents seen by the publication show that the Lithuanian FinTech appears to have processed some of the money that was siphoned off prior to the company’s collapse.
People familiar with the investigation told the FT that German prosecutors are currently looking into the matter and have been in touch with Lithuanian authorities.
They suspect that part of a €100m loan granted by Wirecard in March 2020 to a subsidiary of the FinTech’s owner, and processed by the Lithuanian company, was secretly passed on to Marsalek.
Latest News
-
APP rules already shifting criminal tactics, says NatWest fraud exec
-
Visa Direct rolls out 1-minute transfers for US bank accounts
-
PSR proposes price cap on cross-border card fees
-
Klarna fined $50m over faults in anti-money laundering protections
-
Santander poaches new head of digital consumer bank from PayPal
-
Payments Association calls for new approach to measuring digital payments emissions
Sanctions evasion in an era of conflict: Optimising KYC and monitoring to tackle crime
The ongoing war in Ukraine and resulting sanctions on Russia, and the continuing geopolitical tensions have resulted in an unprecedented increase in parties added to sanctions lists.
Achieving operational resilience in the financial sector: Navigating DORA with confidence
Operational resilience has become crucial for financial institutions navigating today's digital landscape riddled with cyber risks and challenges. The EU's Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) provides a harmonised framework to address these complexities, but there are key factors that financial institutions must ensure they consider.
Legacy isn’t the enemy: what FSIs can do to keep their systems up and running
In this webinar we will examine some of the steps FSIs have already taken to rigorously monitor and test systems – both manually and with AI-powered automation – while satisfying the concerns of regulators and customers.
Optimising digital banking: Unifying communications for seamless CX
In the digital age, financial institutions risk falling behind their rivals if they fail to unite fragmented communications ecosystems to deliver seamless, personalised customer experiences.
This FStech webinar sponsored by Precisely explores vital strategies to optimise cross-channel messaging through omnichannel orchestration and real-time customer data access.
This FStech webinar sponsored by Precisely explores vital strategies to optimise cross-channel messaging through omnichannel orchestration and real-time customer data access.
© 2019 Perspective Publishing Privacy & Cookies
Recent Stories