[ad_1]
European policymakers called on Lithuania to strengthen financial supervision, because the Financial Times revealed that prosecutors were skeptical Regulatory Fintech People based in the country were used to steal more than 100 million euros from it Line card, Just a few weeks before the German payment company went bankrupt.
Stasys Jakeliunas, a member of the European Parliament of the Lithuanian Farmers and Green Alliance, told the Financial Times that he hopes that the case will involve the payment company UAB Finolita Unio, which will serve as a “wake-up” to the Lithuanian authorities.
He said: “This can be expected.” “Fintech requires flexible supervision, which is missing in the central bank, especially the financial crime investigation service department. They can’t keep up with these fast-developing innovative businesses.”
Jens Zimmermann, a member of the German Parliament for the Social Democratic Party of Berlin, said that competition among EU members to pursue financial technology in their countries may “create sub-regulatory competition”.
Wirecard went bankrupt in June 2020 after disclosing a 1.9 billion euro loophole in its balance sheet. The Munich prosecutor suspects that hundreds of millions of euros have been drawn from the pre-bankruptcy reserves and are reviewing the Lithuanian financial technology company Finolita, which is owned by the Singapore-based Senjo Group, which is one of Wirecard’s potential fraudulent business partners. .
Criminal authorities suspect that part of Wirecard’s 100 million euro loan to another Senjo Group subsidiary in March 2020 was processed by Finolita and passed to Wirecard’s former COO Jan Marsalek, who is wanted by Interpol.
The prosecutors are also reviewing the 1.15 million euros paid from Wirecard to Finolita based on invoices they consider to be problematic.
Jekaterina Govina, Director of Financial Market Supervision Services at the Bank of Lithuania, said on Monday that the central bank has been investigating Finolita since the “early autumn” of 2020.
She said: “The investigation is currently in the final stage and the relevant decisions should be announced as soon as possible.” She added, “Lithuania has zero tolerance for money laundering and terrorist financing… The country is doing everything possible to prevent this from happening.”
The conservative Lithuanian Congressman Matas Maldeikis agreed and said that the Bank of Lithuania “is closely monitoring all financial markets, including financial technology companies.” He emphasized: “Lithuania is an innovative country, and fintech companies are welcomed. After Brexit, we are one of the main beneficiaries in this field.”
Sven Giegold, a Green Party member of the German Ministry of Environmental Protection, criticized the Bank of Lithuania for not quickly revoking Finolita’s license after learning of the transaction. “The central bank has been implementing industrial policies to promote the financial industry, not to supervise the financial industry.”
“In the Finolita case, fintech was not sufficiently regulated,” added Fabio De Masi, a left-wing German MP sitting on the Wirecard committee of the Bundestag.
Elfriede Sixt is the Austrian co-founder of the “European Fund Recovery Initiative”, a lobby group representing cybercrime and fraud victims, calling Lithuania and Estonia the “EU offshore financial service centers”, where they won the establishment of e-banking License. Currency institutions, payment service providers or cryptocurrency institutions “obviously become very popular and easy.”
Lisa Paus, a member of the German Parliament of the Green Party, said that scandals such as FBME Bank, Wirecard and Finolita show that the fight against financial crime is a transnational issue. “The supervision of large payment service providers, such as the supervision of banks, must be transferred to the EU level.”
The Ministry of Finance of Lithuania and the European Central Bank, the European Union’s highest banking supervisor, declined to comment.
Germany’s highest audit institution, the Bundesrechnungshof (Bundesrechnungshof) criticized the German institution for handling the Wirecard case seriously.
The agency wrote to Congress in a document: “The various participants-the Ministry of Finance and Justice, BaFin, the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Financial Reporting Executive Group-did not realize the explosiveness of this case or make full use of its capabilities.” Seen by the Financial Times. Handelsblatt first reported the auditing agency’s review.
[ad_2]
Source link
