Silverbird Global Limited (SGL) entered special administration on 13th March 2024 under the Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency Regulations 2021 with Daniel Conway and Geoffrey Rowley of FRP Advisory Trading Limited appointed as joint special administrators (JSAs).
SGL is a foreign exchange and payments services provider, catering to corporate clients, authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to provide payment services under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. SGL is also authorised to act as an Electronic Money Directive (EMD) Agent for The Currency Cloud Limited (TCCL), allowing for the distribution and redemption of electronic money (e-money) and the provision of certain payment services on behalf of an e-money institution.
On 11th March 2024, SGL agreed to a Voluntary Undertaking (VU) which restricted the activities it can undertake. See more on the FCA's website and the FS Register.
"The JSAs are responsible for managing customer claims and distributing funds back to customers where possible. They will:
Direct customers of TCCL will be contacted with updates about services relating to their accounts. Any funds remain safeguarded and are not part of the special administration but customers can contact TCCL if they have issues accessing money." - The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
"The Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency Regulations 2021 introduced a new special administration regime for payment and e-money institutions. A special administration is similar to an ordinary administration however, the special administrators have an additional objective of returning customer funds as soon as reasonably practicable." - The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
As stated by the FCA, the joint special administrators (JSAs), Daniel Conway and Geoffrey Rowley of FRP Advisory Trading Limited, are responsible for managing customer claims and distributing funds back to customers where possible. Appointed on 13th March 2024, the JSAs must provide a report to creditors within 8 weeks of their appointment. This report will include details of both SGL’s history and the JSAs’ proposals.
Where SGL acts as an agent for The Currency Cloud Limited (TCCL), TCCL will contact their customers directly with updates for the services relating to their accounts.
SGL customers should contact the JSAs if they have any questions or concerns.
As customers of Silverbird, businesses will look to other providers to continue their commercial activity.
When looking for a new payments provider it's important to consider the methods used to hold customer funds (such as safeguarding), their heritage, and if they have publicly available financials.
Under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs), there are specific requirements on how a regulated payments firm must protect and hold customer funds, these requirements and process is known as "safeguarding".
Safeguarding requires firms to store customer funds in designated accounts separate from their other assets as a protection measure, ensuring their safety if a firm fails.
At Equals Money (EQLS) we offer solutions for international payments, spend management and more, catering to both business and retail customers in the financial services sector. As part of the Equals Group, we're publicly listed on the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange and have served over 20,000 businesses since forming in 2005.
Our Equals Money platform provides a money management and payments layer, without the requirement to change from your existing bank. Core functionality includes expense management via virtual and physical cards, domestic, bulk, and international payments capabilities supported by Tier 1 bank connections. Additionally, Because Equals Money accounts don’t fall under FSCS, with us your money is protected via safeguarding. We hold your funds in specially designated, safeguarded bank accounts, which keep them separate from our other assets.
Equals Money has a strong 18-year track record of continuous growth. Our products combines innovation with personalised service, providing security and connections to payment networks - all whilst retaining a strong compliance culture.
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