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One of the short sellers called BaFin's whistleblower hotline to report them the proof they had of the fraud. - "[short seller] Do you speak english?" * "[BaF

One of the short sellers called BaFin's whistleblower hotline to report them the proof they had of the fraud. - "[short seller] Do you speak english?" * "[BaFin] Sure of course. - "[short seller] I have proof of Wirecard's fraud..." * "[BaFin - interrupting] Wirecard? Oh sorry no we don't speak english. [hang up]" And that right there is indeed BaFin's fault. They are at best negligent and at worst a malicious entity, that has scammed many investors out of a lot of money.

throwawaygh 6y ago
TBF: I know enough German to answer the phone and give some answers to basic questions, but not enough German to make on-the-record statements about some important legal issue. I mean, I ultimately agree BaFin is shady as hell here, but I can at least imagine a scenario where someone thought "wait I thought we were going to talk about something routine my language skills are not good enough for something this sensitive".
- fluffything 6y ago
  > "wait I thought we were going to talk about something routine my language skills are not good enough for something this sensitive". On the international whistleblower hotline of the financial regulatory agency? At least they could have connected them with somebody, or tell them to send an email somewhere, but hanging up doesn't sound shady to me, it just sounds lazy :P
  - wsc981 6y ago
    It doesn't sound shady? Shouldn't they be very interested in the information?
    - fluffything 6y ago
      > Shouldn't they be very interested in the information? Yes, public servants should be interested in doing their job properly. In Germany at least, they are un-fireable, so it isn't unusual for many of them to just being counting the days until retirement. Some "harder" task arrives? Sorry can't do that - what are you going to do about it? I can't be fired.
- reitzensteinm 6y ago
  They should have translators on call for any of the official spoken languages in the EU. However, considering it's a department that deals with complicated legal issues, my experience living in Germany tells me there's a decent chance the person answering the phone knows formal English better than the person that called. If they didn't listen they didn't want to listen.
woodpanel 6y ago
Interesting, you got a link? In my dealings with BaFin they were rather open and capable (but slow to act).
- fluffything 6y ago
  https://www.npr.org/transcripts/868001948 https://www.npr.org/transcripts/868001948
  - woodpanel 6y ago
    thanks. tbf the original quote is: "EARL: I phoned the whistleblower line there, and I said, do you speak English? Yes. Then as soon as I mentioned Wirecard, they then said, oh, actually, I don't speak very good English. Could you call back? Or then another time, the phone just went dead." Which kind of confirms trowawaygh's spitballing. Anyways, this specific short seller's account sounds more like its going to be part of a movie.

throwawaygh 6y ago

TBF: I know enough German to answer the phone and give some answers to basic questions, but not enough German to make on-the-record statements about some important legal issue. I mean, I ultimately agree BaFin is shady as hell here, but I can at least imagine a scenario where someone thought "wait I thought we were going to talk about something routine my language skills are not good enough for something this sensitive".

fluffything 6y ago
> "wait I thought we were going to talk about something routine my language skills are not good enough for something this sensitive". On the international whistleblower hotline of the financial regulatory agency? At least they could have connected them with somebody, or tell them to send an email somewhere, but hanging up doesn't sound shady to me, it just sounds lazy :P
- wsc981 6y ago
  It doesn't sound shady? Shouldn't they be very interested in the information?
  - fluffything 6y ago
    > Shouldn't they be very interested in the information? Yes, public servants should be interested in doing their job properly. In Germany at least, they are un-fireable, so it isn't unusual for many of them to just being counting the days until retirement. Some "harder" task arrives? Sorry can't do that - what are you going to do about it? I can't be fired.
reitzensteinm 6y ago
They should have translators on call for any of the official spoken languages in the EU. However, considering it's a department that deals with complicated legal issues, my experience living in Germany tells me there's a decent chance the person answering the phone knows formal English better than the person that called. If they didn't listen they didn't want to listen.

woodpanel 6y ago

Interesting, you got a link? In my dealings with BaFin they were rather open and capable (but slow to act).

fluffything 6y ago
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/868001948 https://www.npr.org/transcripts/868001948
- woodpanel 6y ago
  thanks. tbf the original quote is: "EARL: I phoned the whistleblower line there, and I said, do you speak English? Yes. Then as soon as I mentioned Wirecard, they then said, oh, actually, I don't speak very good English. Could you call back? Or then another time, the phone just went dead." Which kind of confirms trowawaygh's spitballing. Anyways, this specific short seller's account sounds more like its going to be part of a movie.