Today In Payments Around The World: Germany Looks To Bolster BaFin’s Leadership; CMA Tells Viagogo To Sell StubHub’s International Biz

In today’s top payments news around the world, Germany is looking to strengthen the leadership of its Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), while a U.K. antitrust watchdog is ordering Viagogo to sell StubHub’s international business. Plus, special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are eying the Asian market for merger arrangements.

SPACs Now Eyeing Asia For Merger Deals

SPACs, which are also called blank-check companies, are now looking at the Asian market for merger deals. SPACs have evolved into a popular vehicle on the U.S. market for taking private firms public. They usually run by raising money via an initial public offering (IPO) and merging with a company that has existing operations.

Germany Plans To Strengthen BaFin’s Leadership Team

Germany is aiming to shore up the leadership of BaFin and intends to bring leading experts onboard to supervise regulations. Furthermore, the authority is intending to build out a task force to probe any suspected accounting fraud. It formerly depended upon another watchdog for accounting probes. “We want a stronger, proactive supervisor with more teeth,” Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Kukies told Bloomberg.

UK Antitrust Agency Orders Viagogo To Divest Chunk Of StubHub Operations

A British regulator is ordering Viagogo to divest StubHub’s international business, citing competition concerns. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in a press release it has determined that Viagogo has to sell StubHub’s business beyond North America after taking a closer look into the $4 billion merger between the two firms.

Travel Industry Coalition Predicts Business Travel Rebound By 2025

Business travel will rise toward the end of 2021 and will fully bounce back by 2025, according to an annual report by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA). “The pandemic has been devastating for business travel and it’s clear our industry will take some time to recover given the challenges we’re facing on multiple fronts,” GBTA Interim Executive Director Dave Hilfman said in a press release.