Wirecard’s auditor has refused to sign off its 2019 accounts over a missing $2.1 billion, sending the German payments firm’s shares down over 60% on Thursday as it warned the delay could cause billions in loans to be called in as early as Friday. Wirecard said auditor EY had informed it that sufficient evidence could not be found for 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in cash balances on trust accounts – or around a quarter of its balance sheet total. CEO Markus Braun said Wirecard was urgently seeking to clarify the balances in question.
