German financial oversight head out after Wirecard scandal

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s finance ministry says the head of the country’s financial supervisory authority is to leave the job as the agency is reorganized in the aftermath of the accounting scandal at payment systems provider Wirecard. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said after the scandal erupted last year that he wanted to revamp the country’s financial oversight system. One-time tech star Wirecard filed for protection from creditors through insolvency proceedings after admitting that 1.9 billion euros ($2.3 billion) that was supposedly held in trust accounts in the Philippines probably didn’t exist. The finance ministry said that it and BaFin president Felix Hufeld decided by mutual agreement on Friday that, as well as organizational changes, a “new beginning” is needed in the agency’s leadership.