, Columnist
Confidence in German Capital Markets Has Been Shattered
Just like Porsche/Volkswagen, the regulatory lapses that let Wirecard go unchecked will live long in investors’ memory.
“I can’t understand why external regulators should be held responsible.”
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When Wirecard AG’s former boss Markus Braun was taken from his Bavarian prison last week to give testimony to a German parliamentary enquiry, he declined to answer almost all questions about the payment-processing group’s sudden collapse.
Dressed in his trademark black turtleneck sweater, he did read a prepared statement which generously exonerated politicians, financial authorities and auditors for not spotting the epic fraud. “I can’t understand why external regulators should be held responsible for failures here,” he said.