On 30-03-2023, the decision-making chamber ‘professional supervision’ banned Ernst and Young for carrying out statutory audits of public interest companies for two years in Germany. In the audit of financial statements of Wirecard AG and Wirecard Bank AG for the years 2016-2018, the breach of professional duty by the auditing company and five other auditors was found.
Wirecard AG had filed for insolvency in June 2020, and the accounting company responsible for its accounts, EY, had been found by the to be indulged in ‘breach of its accounting duties’.
For investigation into the auditing company (EY), the APAS had relied on the particulars of the working papers of EY, the relevant communication of the parties involved, witness statements, information from the third parties and statements by those affected.
The “professional supervision” included three auditors and two qualified lawyers from APAS and had concluded that, “there is breach of professional duties by the auditing company as well as the individual auditors involved”.
Thus, APAS had imposed fines of EUR 23,000 TO EUR 300,000 for natural persons involved in breach, and EUR 500,000 for legal entity as well as ban on audit of public interest companies for two years from the date of this decision.
Source: Press
