The Audit Failures of the Wirecard Scandal: Examining the Role of the Auditor in Regulatory Oversight

Wirecard was the largest economic scandal in the history of Germany. Following the collapse of Wirecard, numerous lawsuits, both criminal and civil by equity and debt investors, were filed not only against Wirecard but also against the auditor Ernst & Young. This book demonstrates that a proper audit in accordance with the auditing standards would have uncovered the fraud much earlier, and details what went wrong. The book first deals with the fundamentals of auditing and examines the Wirecard business models from a legal and economic perspective. Then, the book deals with the fiduciary structure, which there has been often debated. When the fraud was uncovered, it became clear that 1.9 billion Euros that were supposed to be in escrow accounts were not. The book discusses the balance sheet mapping in detail, including the related audit requirements and examines in which balance sheet item the amounts (allegedly) in escrow accounts should have been reported, before examining and weighing the corresponding income statement items. In each chapter, not only are the accounting requirements presented, but the requirements for audit measures based on the respective Standards on Auditing are highlighted and explained in detail. The book places the requirements for reporting in the context of the Wirecard case, and will be of interest to accountants, auditors, market regulators, and credit risk analysts alongside students of accounting/auditing.

Edgar Löw is a Professor of Accounting and the Program Director of the Master in Auditing at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. He teaches courses on banking and financial instruments accounting as well as national and international accounting standards. Löw also serves as a member of several professional bodies including the German Institute of Public Auditors, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, the European Banking Authority and Accountancy Europe. Before joining academia, Löw held several senior positions in the banking and audit industry, working for Deutsche Bank, Arthur Andersen, and KPMG in Frankfurt. Before joining Frankfurt School’s Accounting Department, Löw was a partner at Ernst & Young in Eschborn/Frankfurt, serving as the Head the Professional Practice Department FSO and of Financial Accounting Advisory Services Banks Germany. 

Reinhard Heyd is a Professor of Accounting and Auditing at Aalen University and provides lectures in financial accounting and auditing. In addition, he is an honorary professor at the University of Ulm and the author of numerous books and papers about accounting, auditing, and corporate governance.