PRESS RELEASE : SCHIRP & PARTNER Rechtsanwälte mbB: WIRECARD Parliamentary Investigation: Will EY investigators refuse to testify? Plaintiffs' representatives: Civil processes will bring clarification

 
 DGAP-News: SCHIRP & PARTNER Rechtsanwälte mbB / Key word(s): Legal 
Matter/Miscellaneous 
SCHIRP & PARTNER Rechtsanwälte mbB: WIRECARD Parliamentary Investigation: 
Will EY investigators refuse to testify? Plaintiffs' representatives: Civil 
processes will bring clarification 
 
2020-11-25 / 15:19 
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. 
 
*WIRECARD Investigating Committee: EY investigators refuse to testify * 
 
*Plaintiff's representatives: The civil processes will bring the 
clarification* 
 
For tomorrow, November 26, 2020, the Parliamentary Investigation Committee 
has summoned EY employees as witnesses who have audited the annual financial 
statements of WIRECARD AG. The Parliamentary Investigation Committee hopes 
that this will provide answers as to how the balance sheet fraud at WIRECARD 
AG became possible in the first place and why it remained undiscovered for 
so long. WIRECARD's insolvency administrator Jaffé has expressly released 
the auditors from their duty of confidentiality. 
 
Nevertheless, the EY auditors have announced that they will refuse to 
testify to a large extent. The examiners invoke § 22 para. 2 of the Law on 
Parliamentary Investigation Committees (PUAG). According to this provision, 
the answer to questions can be refused if the witness otherwise runs the 
risk of being overburdened with further investigations himself. 
 
Attorney Dr. Marc Liebscher, Berlin: "The behavior of the EY investigators 
is scandalous. It may now happen that the interrogation will be as 
unproductive as the interrogation of WIRECARD CEO Markus Braun. Thus the 
powers of the parliamentary investigative committee are being trampled 
underfoot. As late as September 14, EY promised in a customer letter 
distributed worldwide that it would provide any assistance in clarifying the 
matter and cooperate with all authorities. One can see: Again, this was just 
smoke and mirrors". 
 
Lawyer Dr. Wolfgang Schirp, Berlin, who together with Dr. Liebscher has 
already filed a large number of claims for damages against EY since June 
2020 and is preparing further lawsuits: "If you look at the tricks and shady 
games of EY, we can be glad that we can force information from EY, at least 
in the ongoing civil proceedings. We have filed lawsuits with very precise 
allegations. EY will have to defend itself against these just as precisely. 
There will be no more cover-ups or evasive action in the civil proceedings. 
 
Dr. Marc Liebscher and Dr. Wolfgang Schirp: "One more thing is clear from 
EY's conduct: the current attempts by the legislator to reform the law 
governing auditors do not go far enough. The draft bill for a law to 
strengthen financial market integrity (FISG) is indeed intended as a 
reaction to the Wirecard scandal. However, the FISG does not draw any 
lessons from the lack of transparency: the draft fails to adapt the far too 
comprehensive duty of confidentiality of auditors to modern, international 
standards. Germany thus lags behind its international competitors and allows 
"another Wirecard". The currently applicable statutory regulations on the 
obligation of auditors to maintain secrecy go too far and leave too much 
room for interpretation. The duty of confidentiality according to Section 43 
WPO, Section 323 I 1 HGB and Section 203 StGB, to which IDW PS 210 Tz. 66 
expressly refers, is even to apply to statements made by the auditors to the 
public prosecutor's office. This is untenable in view of the function of the 
auditors, which is founded in the public interest of the shareholders". 
 
For further information please contact us: 
 
Dr. Wolfgang Schirp, Schirp & Partner Rechtsanwälte mbB, Leipziger Platz 9, 
D - 10117 Berlin, Tel. [phone] and 0049-179-5320213, mail: 
[e-mail], URL: www.schirp.com 
 
Dr. Marc Liebscher, Dr. Späth & Partner Rechtsanwälte mbB, Kurfürstendamm 
102, D - 10711 Berlin, Tel.: [phone] and 0049-176-93150194, mail: 
[e-mail], URL: www.dr-spaeth.com 
 
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) 
 
2020-11-25 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a 
service of EQS Group AG. 
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. 
 
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1150609 2020-11-25 
 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2020 09:19 ET (14:19 GMT)