Commerzbank, the German lender, is suing accounting firm EY over the losses it suffered in the collapse of Wirecard.

German payment processor Wirecard imploded in 2020 after announcing that €1.9 billion was missing and that it had €3.2 billion in debt. EY served as Wirecard’s auditor and certified its books, even when investors and journalists began to raise questions over the company's stability.

EY would go on to say that the hole in Wirecard’s accounts came as the result of sophisticated global fraud.

Now in 2023, Commerzbank has filed a case in Frankfurt court against EY over the €200 million in losses it incurred as a result of Wirecard’s downfall. This is one of a number of suits ongoing against EY over its dealings with Wirecard.

A spokesperson for EY said that the "claims against EY for damages do not hold up" and said that the company believes the courts will also hold this position.

EY Germany is looking to move on from the Wirecard scandal, with the FT reporting that it plans to cut 40 partners and 370 staff. The partner cuts are in its audit practice, which accounts for about 4 per cent of the equity and salaried partners in EY’s German business. The company is also undergoing a cost-cutting project which is being referred to internally as ‘Zugspitze’, with this round of cuts codenamed ‘Everest’.

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