The FCA(Financial Conduct Authority of the UK, Wirex today declared a temporary suspension of registration for new users in the country, following a “constructive dialog”.
“The break is a temporary measure and is followed by a constructive dialogue,” wrote Wirex. “In its popular app, Wirex announced it willingly pause new UK customers as of 24th March 2021.”
The UK citizens will not be able to sign up for the Wirex Services from now on, The company will now concentrate on improving the implementation of its 5th anti-money laundering Directive. The latter should help Wirex “to make financial transactions more transparent,” the company added.
According to the release, the FCA has made “suggestions” as to how Wirex could change the company’s existing operating processes.
“The recommendations of the FCA help us build a stable working environment” said Wirex’s Co-Founder and CEO, Pavel Matveev. “We think London is the capital city of fintech.
He added that UK-based customers still wanting to use the company’s application and multi-debit cards can add a waiting list while the suspension is active.
FCA aims at derivatives of crypto
The FCA has taken a tough stance on some cryptoproducts by imposing a ban to retail investors in the UK earlier this year on cryptoderivatives. Due to the prevalence of financial crime, price volatility and lack of reliable evaluations, the regulator considered the crypto-based financial products to be “unsuitable” for retail customers.
“The prohibition reflects the gravity of possible harm to the product by retail consumers,” says Sheldon Mills, FCA’s Interim Strategy & Competition Executive Director last October.
Last December Wirex was Visa’s main member. That allowed Visa accounts and transactions to be issued by the London company before its US launch.
