Germany's Scholz: Wirecard case suggests auditors, supervisors did not work effectively

Commenting on the developments surrounding the German payment firm Wirecard, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told Reuters that the case was "highly alarming."

Earlier in the day, Wirecard's former CEO Markus Braun got arrested in Germany after the company reported last Friday that €1.9 billion ($2.15 billion) had gone missing from its balance sheet.

Key takeaways

"It's now up to prosecutors to investigate possible manipulation by Wirecard."

"Wirecard case also raises questions about regulation, especially accounting and balance sheet oversight."

"Wirecard case suggests auditors, supervisors did not work effectively."

"German financial watchdog BaFin already said it had made mistakes, these must be identified and eliminated quickly."

"We have to quickly determine how to change our regulatory rules."

Market reaction

Although Germany's DAX 30 Index retreated slightly from daily highs, it's still up 2.6% on the day at 12,583 points.