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Law360, London (March 27, 2020, 2:10 PM GMT ) Foreign currency company Travelex said Friday that it has shuttered its U.K. bureaus for eight weeks following measures from Britain's government in response to the coronavirus crisis that have forced retailers to close their brick-and-mortar stores.
Travelex, which provides currency exchanges for major banks like The Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC, said it has shuttered its foreign exchange branches in Britain since March 24 to comply with government guidance. The currency exchange provider, which also operates international payments services, said it expects its bureaus to remain closed for approximately eight weeks but perhaps longer, given the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Travelex is following government advice closely and is updating its response to the crisis where necessary," London-listed Finalbr, which owns Travelex, said in a stock exchange announcement on Friday. "It is also working with its professional advisers to access various government support measures, both in the U.K. and elsewhere."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson stepped up measures on Monday to prevent the spread of the virus which effectively amount to a lockdown in the U.K. The measures include closing retailers, including high street banks and finance companies.
Travelex on Friday also said that it is "unlikely to be able to provide its audited financial statements" for the fiscal year ending December 2019 by the April deadline.
The Financial Conduct Authority on Thursday said it will give listed companies two extra months to publish their audited annual financial reports. The audited statements are usually published within four months after the end of a listed company's financial year.
Travelex discovered a software virus on Dec. 31 that prompted the company to take down its website to prevent the spread of the ransomware. Hackers use ransomware to encrypt their victims' files and demand a ransom in exchange for not releasing the data or restoring access to it.
It was reported that Travelex has been asked to pay a ransom of millions of dollars.
--Editing by Katherine Rautenberg.
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