German payments company Wirecard was hit by a scandal after it said that 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) had been missing from its accounts.
Wirecard Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Markus Braun resigned on June 18 after the search for the missing money had hit a dead end in the Philippines, and James Freis was appointed as an interim CEO.
The company said it was working on a deal with its creditors. Wirecard is also exploring measures such as cost reductions, restructuring, disposal or termination of business units, Reuters reported.
Wirecard is staring at a cash crunch since it has outstanding loans worth $2 billion.
Here is a look at the what has happened so far:
When did the crisis begin?
Wirecard, once considered a success story in Germany's technology space, announced that the amount was missing on June 18 after EY had refused to sign off the company's accounts.
The missing money accounted for roughly one-fourth of the company's balance sheet.
The company subsequently withdrew its full-year 2019 and first quarter 2020 financial results.
Two Philippine banks, BPI and BDO, said Wirecard was not a client of theirs and alleged that documents had been falsified, Reuters reported.
On June 21, the central bank of Philippines said none of the missing money had entered the country's financial system. Wirecard then made a statement saying there was likelihood that the missing money did not exist.
How did the Wirecard stock react after the news?
The Wirecard stock has lost 85 percent since June 17, the day before the news of the missing money was made public, Bloomberg reported.
The company lost nearly 90 percent of its market value in less than a week, the report added.
Moody's cut Wirecard's rating to junk after the news of the missing money.
"The downgrade of Wirecard's ratings and review for further downgrade reflect the accounting irregularities and related implications on the company's liquidity and financial profile following its failure to publish the already postponed audited consolidated accounts for 2019," Moody's said on June 19.
What was the German government's response?
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, on June 22, said regulatory authorities did their job.
"I think the supervisory institutions worked very hard and they did their job - this is what we see today," Scholz said, as quoted by Reuters.
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