Wirecard is missing 1.9 billion euros – what role do the auditors play in this? Light could soon come into the dark. Once bankruptcy proceedings are opened, creditors and shareholders could be given access to the secret audit reports under certain conditions.
Under certain conditions, creditors and shareholders have the right to inspect the normally top-secret final reports from auditors. That could be important in the Wirecard case, says economics professor Kai-Uwe Marten from the University of Ulm. As far as he knows, this would be the first time that this right had been applied. The corresponding paragraph 321a of the Commercial Code was introduced 16 years ago due to various scandals.
"All those who have claims – such as banks and suppliers, but also shareholders in certain cases – can request access to the audit reports of the past three years as soon as the bankruptcy proceedings are opened," said Marten in an interview.
Shareholders said that they would have to hold one percent of the company or shares worth at least EUR 100,000 to access the reports. Because the financial service provider Wirecard lacks around 1.9 billion euros, which the group wanted to record on the credit side in its 2019 annual balance sheet, companies have now declared bankruptcy. It is not yet clear when the proceedings will open, and what is the 1.9 billion euros is still unclear.
Since the beginning of the Wirecard scandal, the role of auditors – in this case the EY company based in Stuttgart – has also been questioned. However, Martens, an accounting and auditing specialist, protects the auditors. "There is a big difference between doing a normal statutory audit or looking specifically for fraud," he explains.
Expert: Fraud professionals were at work
EY had only been asked to check whether Wirecard's consolidated financial statements comply with the legal international accounting standards. Marten said that experts in fraud, such as former detective commissioners and financial forensic experts, were involved in a special audit that KPMG then carried out in the Wirecard case.
"The auditor, on the other hand, can call in experts, but he does not have the right, for example, to search companies and confiscate material. As this case shows, even a so-called forensic assignment as given to KPMG may not succeed finally enlighten. " Only state authorities would get ahead with their investigations.
If those affected require access to the reports, it would be exciting, said Marten. "Then you can see what the auditors did in the Wirecard case, whether there were suspected cases and, if so, how they investigated them." The auditor himself may only report to the supervisory board of the company concerned.
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