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Tidied up: In the Wirecard scandal, the opposition demanded Felix Hufeld's resignation - in vain
Photo: Julia Sellmann
Radical had
Felix Hufeld
(59) can not change the sound.
It was only at the end of June and the deep crash of the long-celebrated Wirecard payment group had just become apparent, the head of the financial supervisory authority BaFin humbly admitted: "We weren't good enough to prevent that," he said at a conference.
"It's a shame that something like that happened."
A few days later, the members of the Finance Committee in the Bundestag experienced a completely different Hufeld.
Resolute, harsh, downright aggressive, he defended himself against any accusation that BaFin or even himself had failed, say those present.
Hufeld's line of defense: The authority's options simply wouldn't have been enough.
The head of BaFin fought for his job.
The Wirecard scandal shook the reputation of Germany as a financial and business location: the BaFin investigations against Wirecard remained inconclusive;
Instead, the authorities reported journalists who had exposed grievances.
Federal Finance Minister
Olaf Scholz
(62), scourged by the opposition, was also under pressure.
The BaFin boss would have been an easy victim.
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