Wirecard

Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich has discontinued its individual suit against auditor EY related to the Wirecard collapse and closed the proceedings without giving reasons. A settlement with EY appears not to have been reached. Commerzbank is continuing its suit against EY; an expert has already been appointed in that case. The Federal Court of Justice recently ruled that audit confirmations under the previous version of the Model Case Act were not admissible as capital market information in the model proceedings, and a legislative clarification came too late for the affected Wirecard investors. » More on faz.net

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has dismissed shareholders' complaints against the partial lead-case ruling of the Higher Regional Court of Munich, which held that no claims for damages against the auditing firm EY can be asserted in the investor-model proceedings. The case concerns falsified Wirecard financial statements from 2014 to 2018; EY had certified the accounts until the collapse and only refused the 2019 opinion in 2020. The BGH ruling does not preclude individual lawsuits against EY, but these would have to be based on a breach of auditing duties, not on false capital market information. The civil model proceedings are running parallel to the criminal trial against former CEO Markus Braun, who, after almost four years, is awaiting verdict. » More on finanzen.net

At the Munich trial of former CEO Markus Braun and two co-defendants, judges have given the defence a two-week deadline for final evidence motions, likely until 11 November. If no further motions are submitted, the chamber plans to hear the prosecution’s closing arguments and sentencing requests; firm dates for pleas and the verdict have not yet been set. Braun denies the allegations, while the prosecution asserts missing balance-sheet assets of €1.7 billion and damages of around €3 billion. » More on handelsblatt.com

The Federal Court of Justice ruled that liability claims against the auditors and the audit firm EY do not fall within the investor model proceedings for Wirecard. EY welcomed the decision and pointed out that damages claims will be defended in the now-resumed individual proceedings. More than 8,000 previously stayed lawsuits against EY will thus be pursued individually, and around 19,000 investors who had only filed claims in the model proceedings reportedly still have a period in which they can bring individual suits. The legal question of EY’s potential liability remains, but must now be decided in numerous separate cases. » More on faz.net

The Federal Court of Justice ruled that auditors’ reports do not fall under the then-capital-investors’ model proceedings law. As a result, claims against auditor EY cannot be pursued in the Bavarian Supreme State Court; more than 9,000 individual lawsuits must be reopened. Only claims against former managers such as Markus Braun remain in the model proceedings, from whom little recovery is expected. The ruling and years of procedural delays are being cited as further evidence of the failure of state institutions to address the Wirecard scandal. » More on capital.de