BaFin had already received criticism because, despite the numerous reports and negative reports and ongoing investigations, employees of the regulator were trading in shares and derivatives of the meanwhile collapsed Wirecard. According to information from the German Ministry of Finance, BaFin employees also traded in shares and derivatives at the German company Grenke AG, despite a BaFin special audit due to accusations of balance sheet manipulation and money laundering.
Shortseller Fraser Perring and its Viceroy Research published a report in mid-September 2020 raising massive accusations against Grenke. Among other things, the company was accused of balance sheet manipulation, lack of cash, and money laundering. Fraser Perring had already been attacking Wirecard since 2016 and has been proven right with many of his accusations.
Despite the public allegations raised by Perring and Viceroy, employees of Bafin have traded with shares and derivatives of Grenke – the company against which serious accusations of balance sheet falsification have been made since the middle of the year and which is under special investigation by Bafin. This is the result of a response from the Federal Ministry of Finance to the Green Party finance politician Danyal Bayaz.
By the end of September 2020, three Bafin employees are said to have conducted a total of twelve private transactions with securities of the MDax company. Two employees were dealing with shares of Grenke. An employee from the department of the authority responsible for market surveillance reported eight purchases and sales of derivatives.
The BaFin and its employees thus provide a more than a crooked picture. The behavior of BaFin has already caused much criticism at Wirecard as a whole and could result in lawsuits against the regulator by aggrieved shareholders.