S&W Team Appointed Joint Special Administrators of Monevium Ltd

WHY THIS MATTERS

The collapse and entry of Monevium into Special Administration underscores a persistent systemic vulnerability within the non-bank payment sector: the direct operational exposure of payment institutions to sudden shareholder legal actions. Unlike conventional retail banks, which are insulated by state-backed safety nets like the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), FinTech payment providers rely exclusively on strict statutory safeguarding protocols under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. When a principal shareholder faces international enforcement—as occurred with Monevium’s shareholder arrest in early 2024—the fallout can trigger a cascading loss of corporate trading functionality and correspondent bank trust. Even when customer balances remain segregated from the firm’s operational cash, a prolonged, forced freeze on trading eventually exhausts corporate liquidity reserves. This leaves firms unable to fund basic administrative mechanisms required to process ordinary customer withdrawals, converting an asset protection scenario into a full structural wind-down.

Adam Stephens and Christopher Allen of S&W Partners LLP have been appointed Joint Special Administrators (“JSAs”) of Monevium by an order of the Court on 18 June 2026. 

The principal activity of Monevium was the provision of payment services. These included enabling SEPA payments, the issuance of EUR IBAN accounts and facilitating domestic and international fund transfers, including transactions between Monevium account holders.

Monevium is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) (firm reference number 766038) as a payment service institution and provides payments services to its customers in accordance with the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (the 2017 Regulations). 

Following the arrest of Monevium’s shareholder by the US authorities, Monevium voluntarily undertook, to the FCA, to restrict the regulated activities it could carry out (the “Voluntary Undertaking”) in February 2024.  However, following a prolonged period of non-trading the director was left with no option but to elect to wind down Monevium’s operations. The company was placed into special administration because it was no longer able to fund operations necessary to return customers’ funds. Special administration provides a statutory framework that enables the return of customer funds.

As a payment service institution, sums received from or for the benefit of a payment service user are held by Monevium’s correspondent banks for the benefit of its customers, separate to its own company monies. These funds will continue to be segregated and safeguarded by the JSAs pursuant to the Payment Services Regulations 2017. 

The JSAs have to pursue three objectives (which may be pursued by the JSAs concurrently):

1. To ensure the return of relevant funds as soon as is reasonably practicable;
2. To ensure timely engagement with payment system operators, the Payment System Regulator and the Authorities as soon as is reasonably practicable; and
3. To rescue the institution as a going concern or to wind it up in the best interests of the creditors.

Adam Stephens, lead special administrator comments: “The JSAs will be focussed on returning funds as soon as is reasonably practicable. We expect to provide regular updates in the coming weeks on their progress, which includes publishing their proposals and preparing a Distribution Plan setting out how they will commence the return of the relevant funds to customers.” 

Please note, the Voluntary Undertaking agreed with the FCA, which restricts the movement of Relevant Funds remains in place. The return of the customers funds will therefore remain subject to the consent of the FCA and compliance with anti-money laundering legislation.

FF NEWS TAKE

The High Court placing Monevium into Special Administration marks the definitive final chapter of the platform’s multi-year regulatory containment. This action follows a prolonged freeze that began with a voluntary Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) undertaking back in February 2024. To manage the unwinding of its Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and international transfer operations, the court has appointed restructuring specialists Adam Stephens and Christopher Allen of S&W Partners LLP as Joint Special Administrators. Their primary mandate is to untangle the cross-border fund architectures held at various correspondent banks. Because the original regulatory restrictions remain strictly in force, the administrators must coordinate directly with the FCA and navigate rigorous anti-money laundering (AML) protocols to implement a court-sanctioned Distribution Plan. This statutory process serves as the necessary, though slow, legal bridge to securely return remaining euro international bank account number (IBAN) balances to stranded account holders.