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Former Wirecard headquarters in Aschheim near Munich
Photo: Peter Kneffel / dpa
Who is liable for a billion-dollar fraud?
Since the former Dax group and payment service provider Wirecard imploded in June 2020, investors and those who have suffered damage to the company have been arguing about who is to blame.
The focus is always on the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin).
After Wirecard's insolvency, critics accused the financial regulator of idly watching the goings-on for too long despite critical media reports and warnings and even supposedly protecting the company - for example with a ban on short selling.
The district court in Frankfurt am Main has now ruled in a total of four cases: the Bafin does not have to pay for financial damage.
Wirecard shareholders cannot hold the financial supervisory authority liable for their losses with the papers of the insolvent payment service provider, ruled the fourth civil chamber.
She dismissed the claims for damages from four investors for amounts of 3,000 to 60,000 euros.
No third-party protection for investors
Wirecard had slipped into bankruptcy after admitting 1.9 billion euros in air bookings.
According to investigations by the public prosecutor, the total could be more than three billion euros.
The Munich public prosecutor's office is investigating, among other things, for falsification of accounts, fraud, market manipulation and money laundering.
The claimants for damages in Frankfurt had argued that the Bafin had not prevented market manipulation by Wirecard and had not sufficiently investigated indications of criminal offenses.
However, this argument did not catch on with the presiding judge: According to its tasks, the authority only works in the public interest and not in the interests of individual shareholders.
So even if the Bafin had violated its official duties, it is not liable to investors.
"There is no so-called third-party protection," said the judge.
The judgments are not final.
Actually, 60 other official liability claims against the Bafin in the Wirecard matter were to be heard in the district court on Wednesday.
But the hearing fell through after the court denied a motion by plaintiffs' attorneys to reschedule the date.
The lawyers then filed a motion for bias against the judge.
Another chamber of the regional court had already rejected the official liability action of a Wirecard shareholder against the financial supervisory authority in November.
The plaintiff appealed against this.
File numbers: 2-04 O 65/21, 2-04 O 531/20, 2-04 O 561/20, 2-04 O 563/20
rai/Reuters
