Germany's compliance system for internal financial controls after Wirecard. What can be learned from the United States? (PDF)

Master's Thesis from the year 2021 in the subject Law - Civil / Private / Trade / Anti Trust Law / Business Law, grade: 10,45, , course: Compliance: The Legal Perspective, language: English, abstract: What is lacking in the German compliance regime for internal financial controls - in comparison to the U.S. approach - and what has to be changed in terms of legal and practical compliance regulations regarding internal controls over financial reporting?

This paper is organized as follows. Part II explores the Wirecard scandal, with special emphasis on the failures in internal financial controls. Part III then examines the U.S. legal framework in this domain, most importantly the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 but also the Sentencing Guidelines, the Caremark Decision, the doctrine of respondeat superior, and the use of deferred- and non-prosecution agreements (DPAs and NPAs) to support enforcement of compliance obligations. The aim of this analysis is to illustrate how a healthy and effective compliance system regarding internal control over financial reporting is organized and enforced. Part IV then examines the current legal framework in Germany to implement a compliance system, finding, in effect, that there is none, at least as compared to the US model. Part V then turns to the question of reform in the German legal and regulatory landscape, analyzed from the perspective of the US model, with a special focus on the potential impact of the proposed Act to Strengthen Business Integrity (Verbandssanktionengesetz).