European fintech companies and politicians expect there will be a push for increased regulation of fintech companies in response to Wirecard; “This is going to open a hornets’ nest in terms of global regulation,” says Ron Kalifa, the former Vice-Chairman of Worldpay who is leading a review of the fintech sector for the UK government; “Unlike the UK’s FCA, most regulatory regimes for the payments sector are fairly light touch and that can’t work when you are moving money around.”; European members of parliament are calling for an independent review of what went on with Wirecard and how it was missed; three ideas on how to improve regulation include segregation of client money, introduce bank-style requirements for independent directors who are approved and guided by regulators, and greater oversight of the larger companies, in a similar way as the largest banks. Financial Times.
