Left party inquires about government contacts to financial companies
Berlin. The Left party has asked the German government about its contacts to financial companies in view of the Wirecard scandal. The parliamentary group submitted a minor inquiry on Friday. Among other things, it asks which employees of the Federal Chancellery and which federal ministers have met with representatives of the company Wirecard AG and related companies since 2019.
The Left party also wants to know about the content of these meetings and whether members of the government have intervened with authorities or institutions with regard to Wirecard.
Against the background of the Wirecard scandal, serious doubts have been raised as to whether the federal government has sufficiently fulfilled its supervisory duties, the Left faction writes in the introduction to its request for information. “The fact that politicians were obviously aware of irregularities at Wirecard at an early stage raises questions about the effectiveness of the control mechanisms and the willingness of politicians to act,” the MPs state.
The Wirecard scandal is one of the biggest economic scandals in post-war German history. The former Dax company had falsified its accounts over several years and inflated its sales and profits to such an extent that it could no longer service its debts in the summer of 2020. The consequences for the company’s creditors and shareholders were severe.
The scandal also raised questions about the role of the financial supervisory authority Bafin and the political responsibility of the federal government. Among other things, it was criticized that the then Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz (SPD) had not intervened in the Bafin’s investigations into Wirecard in 2019, although he had been informed about irregularities at the company.
Linke fragt nach Regierungskontakten zu Finanzunternehmen
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Kurzmeldungen (hib) a new article on 2025-02-03 13:32 titled “Linke fragt nach Regierungskontakten zu Finanzunternehmen”. Please write a detailed article on this news item, including any relevant information. Answers should be in English.
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