After the bankruptcy of Wirecard the long-time auditor of the group is increasingly targeted. The Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger (SdK) put everything into operation Wirecard Criminal charges against two acting and a former auditor of Ernst & Young GmbH (EY), as the shareholders’ association announced on Friday.
The SdK also had great doubts that EY would be suitable as an auditor. The shareholders’ association will therefore initially vote for the investors represented by SdK at future general meetings against an appointment of EY as auditor and / or group auditor. EY was initially unavailable for comment.
EY had the numbers of for over a decade Wirecard checked and audited the balance sheets. It was only when the 2019 balance sheet was examined that the auditors noticed that bank confirmations for trust accounts in the Philippines were falsified. The accounts should have 1.9 billion euros – a quarter of the total assets. Thursday had to Wirecard then file for bankruptcy. EY’s auditors spoke of a sophisticated, global fraud system that was used to dupe them and investors.
BaFin’s role
The EU Commission also intervenes. Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday that she would ask the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to investigate whether the German financial regulator BaFin failed to control Wirecard and, if necessary, violated EU law.
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