The investors demanded from the Bafin compensation between 3000 and 60,000 euros.
(Photo: dpa)
Frankfurt In the Wirecard case, the Frankfurt Regional Court considers the allegation of abuse of office against the financial regulator Bafin to be unproven. It is not enough that individual employees of the authority owned shares in the company and traded them, the court explained on Friday. Abuse of office requires particularly reprehensible behavior that is borne by irrelevant, purely personal motives.
The fourth civil chamber of the court explained the reasons why it had dismissed several claims for damages by private Wirecard investors against the Bafin in January. The judgments are not yet final. The payment service provider Wirecard collapsed in 2020 after admitting bogus bookings worth billions. The investors suffered losses as a result of the insolvency and demanded compensation of between 3,000 and 60,000 euros from the Bafin.
The investors had argued that the financial regulator had not prevented market manipulation by the former Dax group and had not sufficiently informed the public. The authority did not adequately investigate indications of violations of the law by Wirecard AG.
Referring to decisions of the highest court, the judges countered that the Bafin acts exclusively in the public interest, while private investors are only indirectly protected and consequently cannot assert any claims against the authority. In addition, they have the option of using the Wirecard auditors. The consulting company EY is responsible for this.
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