The UK's financial watchdog has allowed one of Wirecard's key businesses to resume operations after it froze all accounts last week

• Britain's financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, said Wirecard's UK-business can start operating again.
• Wirecard Card Solutions had initially been told to cease all activity last Friday, and customer accounts were frozen.
• German parent company Wirecard filed for insolvency last week after the arrest and resignation of its former chief executive Markus Braun.
• The parent company is also continuing operations as the decision to open insolvency proceedings is still being reviewed the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend.

The UK's financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, has allowed the UK subsidiary of Wirecard to resume regulated activities, days after it ordered the business to cease all operations following the insolvency of its German-based parent company.

The FCA said late Monday UK-based Wirecard Card Solutions Limited can now resume issuing e-money and providing payment services.

On Friday, the watchdog ordered Wirecard Card Solutions Limited to halt all regulated activities and prohibited the firm from offloading any assets or funds, with immediate effect after its parent company filed for insolvency last week.

The FCA said in a statement: "The primary objective of these requirements was to protect the electronic money funds of consumers in safeguarded accounts. It also had the effect of preventing consumers from withdrawing and making payments with those funds. "

"The FCA's consent means that Wirecard can now resume electronic money and payment services to its customers and customers can now, or very shortly, use their cards as usual," the watchdog added.

The move paves the way for thousands of customers who had previously been locked out of their accounts to access their cash again.

The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that parent company Wirecard is also continuing its business activities despite filing for insolvency.

Wirecard said the decision of whether to open insolvency proceedings is currently being reviewed and a provisional insolvency administrator is expected to be appointed soon.

The move comes after Wirecard filed for insolvency on Thursday following a dramatic week which saw the resignation and arrest of its former CEO Markus Braun on suspicion of market manipulation and false accounting practises.

He resigned after more than $2 billion of cash wennt missing from the company's balance sheet.

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The company said last week the money likely never existed.

The firm had said its missing cash was being held in two banks in the Philippines, but later the central bank of the Philippines denied the claim.

Wirecard's share price had fallen about 90% since the company said the cash never existed.

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But on Monday the stock skyrocketed 184% and bounced from its week of hell after the parent company announced it would still continue business and the decision to file for insolvency was still being reviewed.

But the stock is still down 97% in 2020.