Wirecard class action raises regulator immunity questions

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin, is being sued for abuse of authority following one of the biggest fraud scandals of the decade, with German payment processor Wirecard AG filing for insolvency owing €3.5bn (approximately $US 4.14bn) and its chief executive arrested on suspicion of accounting fraud and market manipulation.

You may remember the BAFIN launched a court action against the FT for its reporting on Wirecard over the last few years.  Curiously the FT no longer mentions this court action in recent articles, so a mystery lies buried for now.  The immunity implications for the UK regulator will be watched with interest by many parties, and they are watched with interest by IFAC, who note the multitude of relatively minor mistakes made by the regulator.  We all make mistakes, but the absence of the usual sense of accountability is what causes alarm and it is no surprise that FCA "unanswered emails" are refered to in The Complaints Commissioner's most recent critical report.