Four banks have made serious mistakes when guiding a loan issue for the fallen payment processor Wirecard. This is stated by investment associations VEB and European Investors. They intend to claim damages on behalf of duped bondholders, among others, at ING and ABN AMRO. In September 2019, ING, Crédit Agricole and Deutsche Bank acted as principal supporters of a 500 million euro debt issue by Wirecard. ABN AMRO was also involved in this as a so-called joint bookrunner. But those loans are no longer worth anything now that Wirecard has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following an accounting scandal. Investors who still own the bonds therefore fear not to see any of their money back. Wirecard admitted this year that $ 1.9 billion was off the balance sheet and may never have existed. Earlier, business newspaper Financial Times published disclosures about accounting fraud at the German company. It is a concern to the foreman of the VEB and European Investors, Paul Koster, that the banks apparently never conducted an in-depth book investigation into the group when issuing Wirecard bonds. “These banks should act as gatekeepers for investors through thorough due diligence,” said Koster. “But they have seriously failed to protect investors.” The interest groups for private investors wrote to the banks last week. In it, they ask ING, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and ABN AMRO for detailed information about their book investigation at Wirecard. If they then do not make a reasonable proposal for compensation, the investor associations take the banks in the Netherlands to court.
