The requested documents, except for a legal opinion by an established Maltese law firm, were duly submitted by December 18.
However, three days later, a letter from the MFSA said that certain documentation and clarifications had not yet been handed over, even though Insignia insisted that the only missing document was the legal opinion which it had not managed to obtain at short notice, given the Christmas festivities.
It said that the Authority ordered Insignia to stop all processing of payments due by its clients, which had long been handled by Insignia Global Solutions (IGS) based in Hong Kong.
Such funds were needed to pay various service providers, including VISA, Insignia claimed, adding that blocking the processing of payments would mean great financial losses for the company.