Wirecard collapsed in 2020 after revealing that €1.9 billion in cash probably never existed.
Wirecard was a German payments processor that had grown into a prominent technology company and joined the DAX stock index. Its auditor, EY, refused to sign the 2019 accounts after the company could not substantiate €1.9 billion supposedly held in trustee accounts in the Philippines.
Wirecard admitted on June 22, 2020, that the money probably did not exist. It filed for insolvency days later, becoming one of Germany’s most serious modern corporate scandals. Former CEO Markus Braun was arrested and later charged; the trial and investigations also examined the roles of other executives, auditors, regulators, and journalists.
The scandal is often confused with a simple bank failure, but Wirecard was primarily a payments group with a regulated banking subsidiary. Its collapse triggered intense criticism of German financial supervision and audit oversight.