Who missed the missing cash webinar at EY?
Firm that audited Wirecard goes live with audit committee webcast
EY
Wirecard and webinars
EY, the totally trusting auditor of fibbing fintech Wirecard, has been trying to improve clients’ financial reporting for years. It now operates a “Global Center for Board Matters”, with a UK Centre in London, offering events, workshops, webinars and videos — not to mention a must-listen podcast called (wait for it) “Board Matters”. And it has not let coronavirus make any of this matter less. Its latest webcasts cover: “The role of corporates post COVID-19” and “How can non-executive directors help their companies prepare for recovery?”. But shareholders in the now collapsed Wirecard — and consumers reliant on its payment technology — may wish EY had begun the programme a little earlier. Last week, it emerged that EY auditors failed to check whether Wirecard really did have up to $1bn in cash in a Singapore bank for more than three years. It was not until Wednesday this week, however, that EY went live with its latest webcast on “Considerations for audit committees”. Helpfully, a slide in the presentation reminds all those involved in audits of “Five current questions investors seek information on”. Question number one is . . . “How much cash does the company have?” When EY’s Wirecard blunder was revealed, a rival beancounter expressed incredulity, noting “cash is easy to audit”. Evidently, at EY it remains difficult until you’ve sat through the right webinar.