Financial regulatory body Bafin scrutinizes Wirecard transactions of its own staff more closely
BaFin, Germany's financial watchdog, is facing criticism over the private trades of its employees in Wirecard shares, particularly in the first half of 2020. The revelation comes as part of a special evaluation of Wirecard trades by BaFin employees from 2018, 2019, and 2020, which is currently underway.
The evaluation follows BaFin's decision to stop the Wirecard group's free access to its accounts at Wirecard Bank just a few days before the group's insolvency. This move was made in early June, a time when BaFin also filed a criminal complaint against Wirecard on suspicion of market manipulation.
According to reports, a total of 56 BaFin employees reported 196 private transactions with Wirecard in the first half of 2020. This is a significant increase compared to the entire previous year, where only 41 employees conducted 137 transactions. This corresponds to an increase of around 40 percent in private Wirecard transactions.
The increase in private trades has been a subject of criticism due to BaFin's important decisions regarding Wirecard in recent years. For instance, BaFin banned naked short selling in Wirecard shares for two months in February 2019.
However, BaFin has declined to provide further details about the private trades of its employees when requested by the "Handelsblatt". The evaluation is not yet complete, as reported by the "Handelsblatt" (Friday edition).
It is important to note that there is no publicly available, up-to-date information explicitly confirming the results or current status of any special evaluation or investigation specifically concerning an increase in Wirecard trades by BaFin employees in 2020, nor details on potential breaches related to such trading activities.
The context here is that BaFin has been involved in widespread investigations and enforcement actions related to Wirecard’s massive accounting scandal exposed earlier, including declaring Wirecard’s 2017 and 2018 financial statements null and void due to fraudulent asset reporting. BaFin has since strengthened its AML enforcement and cooperation with EU authorities, but no recent official disclosures or credible sources explicitly report on investigations into BaFin employees’ personal Wirecard trading or special evaluations into such conduct.
A photo of 500-Euro banknotes was provided by dts Nachrichtenagentur.
Other BaFin employees, apart from those under scrutiny for private trades in Wirecard shares, are also involved in the evaluation of Wirecard trades from 2018, 2019, and 2020. The increase in private Wirecard transactions by 40 percent in the first half of 2020, compared to the entire previous year, raises questions about other financial interests in the business sector among BaFin employees.
