Commerzbank files lawsuit against EY over €200m Wirecard losses
German banking group Commerzbank is suing accounting and consultancy firm EY over the €200 million in losses it incurred through the collapse of paytech Wirecard.
EY faces Commerzbank suit over Wirecard losses
Former fintech darling Wirecard imploded in 2020, filing for insolvency after disclosing a €1.9 billion hole in its accounts.
Its collapse came after EY, its auditor for more than a decade, refused to sign off its 2019 accounts, forcing out chief executive Markus Braun and leading Wirecard to admit that €1.9 billion of its cash probably didn’t exist. It ended up owing creditors almost $4 billion.
Commerzbank has now filed a suit against EY in Frankfurt court, Reuters reports, with the bank’s suit said to be one of a number against EY regarding Wirecard.
An EY spokesperson tells Reuters the “claims against EY for damages do not hold up” and the firm believes the courts will agree with this position.
A Commerzbank spokesperson confirmed the lawsuit against EY to FinTech Futures, but did not wish to comment further.
