Scholz Readies Reforms to Ease Wirecard Scandal Pressure

  • Ministry ‘action plan’ aims to streamline financial oversight
  • German regulator sued over failure to uncover irregularities

Olaf Scholz

Photographer: Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images

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German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz plans to strengthen the government’s financial oversight, as the widening scandal over the collapse of Wirecard AG reaches the highest levels of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.

Scholz’s “action plan” would overhaul Germany’s regulatory machinery to streamline probes into irregularities among banks, insurers and payment companies, according to a draft proposal seen by Bloomberg News. Merkel’s finance minister will move “quickly” to implement the changes.