ONDON (Reuters) – German regulators were “deficient” in how they supervised payments company Wirecard and were at risk of being overly influenced by the Finance Ministry, the European Union’s markets watchdog said on Tuesday.
Wirecard’s former Chief Executive Markus Braun and other executives have been held on suspicion of running a criminal racket that defrauded creditors of 3.2 billion euros ($3.73 billion) in Germany’s biggest post-war corporate fraud.
Those accused, including Braun, deny any wrongdoing.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) began a fast-track review in July into how Germany’s markets regulator BaFin and the country’s accounting watchdog the Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel (FREP) enforced EU transparency rules governing company information for markets and investors. Read more…..
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Germany and the European Union are escalating a legal power struggle that could undermine the euro. On Sunday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU’s executive arm will consider possible next steps, including so-called infringement proceedings, after a critical ruling on European Central Bank policy by Germany’s constitutional court. Karin Matussek reports on “Bloomberg Markets: European Open.”
