Wirecard破产引发德国股东史诗级大维权
和德国股市中的众多散户一样，法比安•施密特差不多把Wirecard视为不可错失的机会。这位37岁的驻院麻醉师利用业余时间炒股，目的是存一笔钱，以便为自己即将增员的家庭买一所更大的房子。
尽管一系列新闻报道一再对Wirecard的资金状况提出质疑，施密特还是在5月份满仓买入了这只股票。但一直有人发出警告称（尤其是做空者和《金融时报》负责调查的记者），这家快速增长的金融科技公司的财务数据根本对不上。
不过，施密特越发相信，作为市值一度超越德意志银行的DAX30指数重磅成分股，Wirecard正在顺利实现自己的增长目标。该公司谈吐流利而且充满信心的前CEO让施密特接受了这样的观点。
施密特对《财富》杂志表示：“我发现马库斯•布劳恩相当有说服力。当时他说空方正在对Wirecard下手，想在他们身上牟利。”
据施密特回忆，布劳恩保证说：“我们是一家非常稳定的企业。作为DAX指数成分股，我们的审计机构安永给我们的都是正面评价。”
让施密特下定决心的是德国联邦金融监管局（BaFin）投出的信任票。他后悔地说：“布劳恩提到了BaFin，这对我来说意义非凡。”
投资者损失惨重
尽管上个月出现反弹，但6月17日以来Wirecard的股价已下跌90%以上。
上月底，这家支付服务公司不得不承认，自家账目上神秘失踪的21亿美元资金很可能根本就不存在，其股价应声暴跌。
施密特就是在这个时候抛掉了这只股票，损失了几千欧元。但看到接下来出现的情况后，他发誓一定不会静悄悄地走开。
6月22日，调查人员开始调查布劳恩和其他高管在本次账目造假中可能发挥的作用。一天后，Wirecard申请破产保护。
在安永，长期以来一直负责Wirecard审计工作的人员现在也感觉到了事态的严重性。为了给自己辩护，安永坚持说Wirecard进行了一次“精心策划而且复杂的欺诈”，但关于Wirecard一开始怎样在安永眼皮底下做了这笔假账的争论并未因此平息。
近几天，这场丑闻开始牵扯到德国监管部门。从布鲁塞尔到波恩，人们纷纷要求对监管部门进行整顿。
全国性觉醒
Wirecard的坠落引发了整个德国投资界的觉醒。据一位律师估计，对Wirecard提起集体诉讼的股东人数将创历史新高，比五年前大众排放门参与诉讼的股东还要多。
施密特就是起诉Wirecard的当事人之一。
他抱怨说：“真正让我感到震惊的是BaFin。他们真的什么也没干。我跟他们一样愚蠢”，没有去调查一下关于该公司财务作假的消息。“但他们本该更仔细地进行审查。这是他们的工作。让我如此愤怒的就是这一点。正因为这样我才去了律师事务所，我告诉他们‘如果你们要组织一次大型诉讼，那就把我算进去’。”
《财富》杂志已要求BaFin发表评论，但后者未做出回应。Wirecard则在电子邮件中向《财富》杂志表示，该公司“目前不会发布任何新的公告。”
针对Wirecard的诉讼由德国律师事务所TILP Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH牵头。据TILP律师马克•席费尔介绍，要求参与诉讼的股东已超过3万人。
席费尔告诉《财富》杂志：“有些人损失了全部退休存款。”近几天，TILP将起诉对象扩展到了Wirecard的现任和前任董事们，包括布劳恩和安永。
安永则坚持说自己受到了误导。
对施密特来说，他的主要目标是看到德国监管部门对公司进行监控的方式出现变化。他说：“监管者未能履行职责，对我来说是这一点让本次事件变得如此独特。”（财富中文网）
译者：Charlie
去年，Wirecard首席执行官马库斯•布劳恩（右）和首席财务官亚历山大•冯•诺普在慕尼黑召开的年度新闻发布会上发言。由于19亿欧元（21亿美元）账面资金不翼而飞，股东已着手对该公司提起集体诉讼。摄影：Michaela Handrek-Rehle—Bloomberg/Getty Images
和德国股市中的众多散户一样，法比安•施密特差不多把Wirecard视为不可错失的机会。这位37岁的驻院麻醉师利用业余时间炒股，目的是存一笔钱，以便为自己即将增员的家庭买一所更大的房子。
尽管一系列新闻报道一再对Wirecard的资金状况提出质疑，施密特还是在5月份满仓买入了这只股票。但一直有人发出警告称（尤其是做空者和《金融时报》负责调查的记者），这家快速增长的金融科技公司的财务数据根本对不上。
不过，施密特越发相信，作为市值一度超越德意志银行的DAX30指数重磅成分股，Wirecard正在顺利实现自己的增长目标。该公司谈吐流利而且充满信心的前CEO让施密特接受了这样的观点。
施密特对《财富》杂志表示：“我发现马库斯•布劳恩相当有说服力。当时他说空方正在对Wirecard下手，想在他们身上牟利。”
据施密特回忆，布劳恩保证说：“我们是一家非常稳定的企业。作为DAX指数成分股，我们的审计机构安永给我们的都是正面评价。”
让施密特下定决心的是德国联邦金融监管局（BaFin）投出的信任票。他后悔地说：“布劳恩提到了BaFin，这对我来说意义非凡。”
投资者损失惨重
尽管上个月出现反弹，但6月17日以来Wirecard的股价已下跌90%以上。
上月底，这家支付服务公司不得不承认，自家账目上神秘失踪的21亿美元资金很可能根本就不存在，其股价应声暴跌。
施密特就是在这个时候抛掉了这只股票，损失了几千欧元。但看到接下来出现的情况后，他发誓一定不会静悄悄地走开。
6月22日，调查人员开始调查布劳恩和其他高管在本次账目造假中可能发挥的作用。一天后，Wirecard申请破产保护。
在安永，长期以来一直负责Wirecard审计工作的人员现在也感觉到了事态的严重性。为了给自己辩护，安永坚持说Wirecard进行了一次“精心策划而且复杂的欺诈”，但关于Wirecard一开始怎样在安永眼皮底下做了这笔假账的争论并未因此平息。
近几天，这场丑闻开始牵扯到德国监管部门。从布鲁塞尔到波恩，人们纷纷要求对监管部门进行整顿。
全国性觉醒
Wirecard的坠落引发了整个德国投资界的觉醒。据一位律师估计，对Wirecard提起集体诉讼的股东人数将创历史新高，比五年前大众排放门参与诉讼的股东还要多。
施密特就是起诉Wirecard的当事人之一。
他抱怨说：“真正让我感到震惊的是BaFin。他们真的什么也没干。我跟他们一样愚蠢”，没有去调查一下关于该公司财务作假的消息。“但他们本该更仔细地进行审查。这是他们的工作。让我如此愤怒的就是这一点。正因为这样我才去了律师事务所，我告诉他们‘如果你们要组织一次大型诉讼，那就把我算进去’。”
《财富》杂志已要求BaFin发表评论，但后者未做出回应。Wirecard则在电子邮件中向《财富》杂志表示，该公司“目前不会发布任何新的公告。”
针对Wirecard的诉讼由德国律师事务所TILP Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH牵头。据TILP律师马克•席费尔介绍，要求参与诉讼的股东已超过3万人。
席费尔告诉《财富》杂志：“有些人损失了全部退休存款。”近几天，TILP将起诉对象扩展到了Wirecard的现任和前任董事们，包括布劳恩和安永。
安永则坚持说自己受到了误导。
对施密特来说，他的主要目标是看到德国监管部门对公司进行监控的方式出现变化。他说：“监管者未能履行职责，对我来说是这一点让本次事件变得如此独特。”（财富中文网）
译者：Charlie
Like so many German retail investors, Fabian Schmidt saw Wirecard as a near can’t-miss stock opportunity. A 37-year-old resident anesthesiologist, Schmidt trades stocks in his spare time as he looks to save up money to buy a bigger house for his growing family.
Schmidt went all in on Wirecard in May despite a series of news articles that again called into question the company’s finances. Short-sellers and investigative journalists at the Financial Times, in particular, had been sounding the alarm that the finances of the fast-growing fintech just didn’t add up.
Schmidt, though, grew convinced the Dax 30-listed juggernaut, which at one point surpassed Deutsche Bank in market cap, was on the road to hitting its growth targets. The smooth and confident former CEO sold him.
“I found Markus Braun quite convincing,” Schmidt told Fortune. “He was saying the short-sellers are out to get us. They’re trying to profit off of us.”
Schmidt recalled Braun’s assurances: “We are a very stable enterprise. We are a member of the Dax, and we’ve been rated positively by our auditor, Ernst & Young.”
What sealed it for Schmidt was a vote of confidence from BaFin, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, which oversees listed companies and financial firms. “Braun cited BaFin,” Schmidt said ruefully. “That meant a lot to me.”
Investors lost their shirts
Despite Tuesday’s rally, shares in Wirecard are down more than 90% since June 17.
Last week, the payment-processing specialist had to admit that the $2.1 billion that mysteriously vanished from its books probably never existed, sending shares crashing.
That’s when Schmidt bailed on the stock, losing thousands. But after seeing what happened next, he vowed not to walk away quietly.
On June 22, investigators stepped in to probe what role Braun and other executives might have played in the financial fraud. A day later Wirecard filed for insolvency protection.
Wirecard’s longtime auditors at EY are now feeling the heat too. In its defense, EY insists Wirecard pulled off an “elaborate and sophisticated fraud,” but that’s not enough to chill the controversy over how the firm missed the cover-up in the first place.
In recent days, Germany’s regulators have been pulled into the scandal as well. From Brussels to Bonn, there are calls to overhaul the overseers.
A national reckoning
The fall of Wirecard has triggered a national reckoning in Germany’s investor community. By one attorney’s estimate, a record number of shareholders are expected to join in a class-action lawsuit against Wirecard—more than even the numbers who took Volkswagen to court during Dieselgate in the past decade.
One of the Wirecard litigants is Schmidt.
“BaFin is what really shocked me,” he grumbled. “They literally did nothing. I was as stupid as they were” to not check into the allegations of financial wrongdoing at the company. “But they should have looked closer. It’s their job. This is what makes me so angry. This is why I went to the law firm. 'If you are organizing a big lawsuit,' I told them, ‘then count me in.’”
BaFin did not respond to Fortune's requests for comment. Wirecard said in an email response it is "currently not making any further statements."
According to Marc Schiefer, an attorney at the German law firm TILP Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, which is spearheading the legal push against Wirecard, more than 30,000 shareholders have asked to join the lawsuit.
“Some people just lost their whole retirement savings,” he told Fortune. In recent days, TILP has expanded its legal claim to include current and former Wirecard board members, including Braun, and EY.
The audit firm maintains they were the ones who were misled.
For Schmidt, his big fight is to see changes in the way German regulators oversee the companies on their watch. “What makes this story so unique to me—the failure of regulators to do their jobs,” he says.
