Finance
German court rejects shareholders' bid for more of Wirecard insolvency spoils
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
A German court denied shareholders' claims for a larger share of Wirecard's assets, leaving 50,000 investors with little hope of recovery.
KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) -A German high court rejected a claim from shareholders in defunct payments company Wirecard who were seeking a bigger share of the firm's remaining assets.
The company collapsed in 2022 in the country's biggest post-war fraud after conceding that 1.9 billion euros ($2.22 billion) it had booked in its accounts likely never existed.
Some 50,000 shareholders, foremost among them Union Investment, argued that since they themselves were victims of fraud by the company they should rank alongside creditors in insolvency proceedings, rather than in last place as is ordinarily the case.
Judges at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe rejected that argument.
"It's not sufficient to demonstrate that shareholders were defrauded, because that ignores the fact that their aim was to gain an ownership share in the company," the court wrote. "The shareholder has to bear the risks that follow from that."
The collapse, following years of exposes in the Financial Times, was an embarrassment for German business and law enforcement, with critics charging that authorities had been reluctant to look too closely at what was seen as a rare German digital champion.
The company's remaining assets are worth around 650 million euros, while outstanding claims against the company run to 15.4 billion euros, meaning shareholders will likely be left with nothing.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Ursula Knapp in Karlsruhe, writing by Thomas Escritt, editing by Alexandra Hudson)
Insolvency is a financial state where an individual or organization cannot meet its debt obligations as they come due. It often leads to legal proceedings and asset liquidation to pay creditors.
Corporate governance refers to the systems, principles, and processes by which companies are directed and controlled. It involves balancing the interests of stakeholders, including shareholders, management, and the community.
Fraud is a wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain. It can involve falsifying information or misrepresentation to deceive others.
Shareholders are individuals or entities that own shares in a company. They have a claim on the company's assets and earnings and may receive dividends based on the company's performance.
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