Wise Flags Brazil Police Investigation Ahead of U.K. Listing

(Bloomberg) -- Digital-payments provider Wise, which is set to start trading in London next week, said it expects Brazil to open a police investigation after a local lender alleged misconduct by the U.K. company.

Wise’s prospectus, published Friday, laid out risks stemming from a previously reported legal dispute between the company and Brazilian lender MS Bank. Wise said it took a 6.7 million-pound ($9.3 million) provision in its latest financial results to account for 6 million pounds withheld by MS Bank that was used to provide liquidity for Wise’s money-transfer business.

MS Bank has made allegations of tax evasion and violations of exchange controls, Wise said. The U.K. listing candidate said it could not predict the outcome at this time and that it intends to co-operate with Brazilian authorities.

“The opening of an investigation does not imply any finding of criminality and we do not believe that any crime has occurred,” Wise said in its prospectus.

The company also said co-founder Taavet Hinrikus will step down as a chair within a year, with senior independent director David Wells, a former chief financial officer at Netflix, taking over the position, to comply with the U.K. corporate governance code.

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