Singapore central bank, local police probing Wirecard's operations

The regulator is also working with foreign agencies for cross-border transactions.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is working with the local police to investigate Wirecard’s local operations, reports Reuters.

The central bank has also reached out to foreign agencies due to the cross-border nature of Wirecard transactions. The Singapore Police Force’s (SPF) Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) had begun criminal investigations into Wirecard’s operations in the country in February 2019.

In a statement released 30 June, the regulator stated that Wirecard has already complied with the directive to hold customers' funds in segregated accounts with Singaporean banks. It has also been informed that the embattled payments firm is assessing its ability to sustain operation in the country given its parent company's insolvency filing in Germany.

Credit card payments at merchants using Wirecard services as well as Wirecard-issued prepaid cards will be affected if it ceases operations here, MAS said.

Wirecard entities in Singapore are not currently licensed by MAS, but are operating under a grace period provided by the Payments Services Act.