Municipalities threatened with loss of millions: Bafin initiates the insolvency of Greensill Bank

Municipalities are threatened with loss of millions
Bafin initiates bankruptcy of Greensill Bank

The fate of Greensill Bank seems to be sealed: The financial regulator Bafin has filed for bankruptcy. Private savers are covered, the millions of municipalities would be gone in the event of bankruptcy. Bafin critics see parallels to the Wirecard scandal.

The German financial regulator Bafin filed for insolvency yesterday evening for Greensill Bank, which had run into turmoil. This was announced by a spokeswoman for the Bremen District Court on request. "We received an application from the Bafin yesterday evening to open insolvency proceedings with regard to Greensill Bank AG," said the spokeswoman.

The application is now being examined. It was initially unclear whether there would be a decision today. The court wants to inform about the further course. Bafin had already closed the Bremen subsidiary of the British-Australian financial conglomerate Greensill to customer traffic at the beginning of March. The public prosecutor is investigating Greensill Bank AG, the Bafin had filed a criminal complaint. According to reports, it is about the accusation of falsification of accounts.

234632176.jpg "data-src =" https://apps-cloud.n-tv.de/img/22428373-1615886006000/16-9/750/234632176.jpg "class =" lazyload "/> </picture><figcaption><p class=More than 25 municipalities such as the city of Monheim am Rhein have invested millions in the bank.

(Photo: picture alliance / dpa)

So far it has never happened that an institute has been permanently active on the market again after a moratorium. Since the closure by the financial supervisory authority, savers have not been able to get their money, but do not have to fear for their savings: The compensation fund of the private banks and the statutory deposit insurance guarantee their deposits. According to information from financial circles, that should be around 3.1 billion euros.

However, the funds of professional investors such as federal, state, municipal or bank-like customers are no longer subject to the compensation scheme since October 2017. Numerous municipalities, some of which have invested amounts in the double-digit millions at the bank, should therefore go away empty-handed. According to the portal tagesgeldvergleich.net, these include the state of Thuringia, the city of Monheim am Rhein and the Hessian city of Eschborn. According to insiders, these customers have a total of around half a billion euros on fire.

Bank in the sights of Bafin since the beginning of 2019

The case raises questions, similar to the billions of Wirecard balance sheet fraud. The financial supervisory authority is now once again criticized for not having pointed out the problems at Greensill Bank earlier. According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, to which the Bafin is subordinate, the authority has had the Bremen money house in its sights for over two years. At the beginning of 2021, she appointed a special representative there. Since January 2019, she has been informed monthly about balance sheet data from the bank, according to a response from the ministry to the Green finance politician Lisa Paus.

However, the authority ran after the events in the crucial phase, criticized Paus. "She has been regularly informed since 2019, but not intervened," said Paus. "Supervision must be just as dynamic as the financial market and developments in the banks."

Last week the "Wirtschaftswoche" reported that the Bafin was also taking action against the bank's auditor. Because of possible deficiencies in the final examination by the Stuttgart company Ebner Stolz, the supervisory authority wanted to initiate a procedure with the responsible Apas supervisory committee, it said. Ebner Stolz has certified that the Greensill Bank has completed 2019. The Bafin did not comment on the report. Apas confirmed that the financial supervisory authority had sent it a message "relating to Greensill Bank AG".

. (tagsToTranslate) Economy (t) Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (t) Wirecard (t) Banking Authority (t) Banks (t) Insolvency (t) Bremen (t) Investor Protection (t) Investors and companies