DE v13.3.0

Germany (DE) · Module Detail

Germany: Legal & Litigation

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The defining payments-litigation complex remains Wirecard: the 2020 insolvency (EUR 1.9bn missing) drove the Financial Market Integrity Strengthening Act (FISG, 2021) expanding BaFin powers; the Munich Regional Court found former board members liable for EUR 140m in 2024/2025 and criminal proceedings continue. Phishing/unauthorised-payment case law under BGB §§675u–675w (PSD2) is active, with the BGH (5 Mar 2024, XI ZR 107/22) placing the burden of proving authorisation/SCA on the bank. Enforcement intensified in 2025: BaFin levied a record EUR 45m AML fine and a EUR 25m greenwashing fine; 'Operation Chargeback' (Nov 2025) dismantled a EUR 300m card-fraud network routed partly through German gateways.

Standing sub-brief · as of 27 June 2026160 words · last cycle 2026-07-07

Legal & Litigation

The defining German payments-litigation complex is Wirecard: the 2020 insolvency (EUR 1.9bn missing) drove the FISG (2021) expanding BaFin powers. The Munich Regional Court (5 Sept 2024, 5 HK O 17452/21) found three former board members liable for EUR 140m for negligent fiduciary breach, with criminal proceedings continuing. The BGH (5 March 2024, XI ZR 107/22) placed the burden of proving authorisation and SCA on the bank under BGB §§675u-675w. At end-2025 BaFin levied a record EUR 45m AML fine and a EUR 25m greenwashing fine, and 'Operation Chargeback' (Nov 2025) dismantled a EUR 300m card-fraud network across 193 countries. The BGH SCA burden-of-proof ruling and the FISG-empowered BaFin shape PSP liability exposure and supervisory risk for both bank and non-bank operators.

no periodic updates on record for this sub-brief

1 earlier update recorded under a different module label

An early cycle filed this entry under this module code with a heading naming another subject. Kept for the record; not this module's latest position.

Periodic update · new data 2026-07-08

Cross-Border Payments & Remittances

No material signal was identified for Germany under W7 (Cross-Border Payments and Remittances) this cycle. No corridor-tracker entries were generated for DE this cycle.

Outlook

This module will be updated when DE-specific cross-border payments or remittances regulatory material is available.

Sources and findings (4)
  1. T3https://globallitigationnews.bakermckenzie.com/2025/01/03/germany-wirecard-board-members-liable-for-eur-140-million/retrieved
  2. T3https://efri.io/phishing-in-germany-what-upper-courts-say/retrieved
  3. T3https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=15decca4-8204-44c2-ab0a-045f8ba514a4retrieved
  4. T4https://www.contextualsolutions.de/blog/operation-chargeback-wirecard-bafin-fintech-fraud [CAVEAT: Tier 4 commercial/blog source — Assessed; illustrative only]