German regulator threatens to impose fines on Wirecard AG

German financial services regulator BaFin has posted a brief announcement on its website regarding Wirecard AG.

The regulator says it issued a notice on 22 July 2020 ordering Wirecard AG to comply with the financial reporting requirements under sections 114 et seq. of the Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz – WpHG) and threatening to impose coercive fines in the amount of EUR 330,000.

Wirecard AG contravened the requirements under section 114 (1) sentences 2 and 3 of the WpHG (lack of announcement) with respect to the annual financial information for the financial year 2019.

The notice is immediately enforceable but not yet final and binding, the regulator says.

BaFin has been under fire over the Wirecard scandal. Earlier in July, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced that it will launch an assessment of the supervisory response in the financial reporting area by BaFin and the Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel (FREP) to the events leading to the collapse of Wirecard AG. It will be completed by 30 October 2020.

The assessment will focus on the application of the Guidelines on the Enforcement of Financial Information (GLEFI) by BaFin and FREP, the designated competent authorities for the supervision and enforcement of financial information in the Federal Republic of Germany under the Transparency Directive (TD).