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Berlin (dpa) - Bafin Vice President Elisabeth Roegele does not see a heavily controversial measure by the financial supervisory authority in the Wirecard case as a serious mistake.
Specifically, it is about a ban on short sales in February 2019, i.e. the ban on speculation about falling Wirecard prices.
Roegele said on Friday in the Bundestag committee of inquiry that she would take responsibility for this measure.
But you could not understand why that should have been a serious mistake.
"We were not the prosecutor's henchmen," said Roegele, who left the Bafin at the end of April.
The financial supervisory authority had received serious information from the public prosecutor that there was insider trading.
The Munich public prosecutor's office gave information from the company's lawyers that Wirecard was being blackmailed to the Bafin.
Roegele said the short-selling ban was about protecting retail investors.
The Bafin did not check the information from the public prosecutor's office.
The Federal Ministry of Finance had been informed in advance of the Bafin’s intention.
The ministry saw no reason to intervene.
The Federal Ministry of Finance oversees the Bafin.
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The short sale ban plays a central role in the political clarification of the Wirecard scandal.
It strengthened the impression among investors that Wirecard was the victim of a targeted attack.
Short sellers speculate on falling prices for a company and often deliberately publish negative information.
Wirecard had admitted a balance gap of 1.9 billion euros last summer.
The alleged fraud was apparently not noticed by auditors or the financial regulator for years.
The Bafin is accused of having failed in the Wirecard case.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210326-99-984347 / 2