Concluding Remarks

In our concluding remarks, we outline further developments following the discovery of the fraud. Some measures that we will elaborate on, in particular, to strengthen governance, appear to make sense. As far as the role of the auditor in the Wirecard scandal is concerned, we show that new or stricter requirements for the auditor could not have prevented the failure of Ernst & Young in the Wirecard financial statements. Simple compliance with the existing rules and regulations and a careful audit by Ernst & Young, as is to be expected of a conscientious auditor, could have uncovered Wirecard's fraud, which had been going on for years, at an early stage. An optimistic and positive conclusion can be drawn for both young students and experienced auditors. Anyone who carries out their work seriously in the interests of the public and behaves professionally, carefully, straightforwardly, and uprightly toward the audited company does not need to worry about liability regulations.