DB1.DE - Deutsche Borse AG
Chart Events
Performance Outlook
- Short Term2W - 6W
- Mid Term6W - 9M
- Long Term9M+
| Previous Close | 165.45 |
| Open | 165.75 |
| Bid | 0.00 x 3500 |
| Ask | 0.00 x 14200 |
| Day's Range | 164.00 - 167.15 |
| 52 Week Range | 92.92 - 167.15 |
| Volume | 404,372 |
| Avg. Volume | 658,950 |
| Market Cap | 30.266B |
| Beta (5Y Monthly) | 0.58 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 27.63 |
| EPS (TTM) | 5.97 |
| Earnings Date | Feb 13, 2018 - Feb 19, 2018 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 2.90 (1.75%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | May 20, 2020 |
| 1y Target Est | 119.75 |
Fair Value
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- Bloomberg
Deutsche Boerse’s Outage Fuels 35% Volume Crash in German Stocks
(Bloomberg) -- The sudden, hours-long breakdown in Deutsche Boerse AG’s electronic trading system on Wednesday led to a significant drop in volumes across affected markets, adding to the summer lull and leaving some traders frustrated.Transactions on Germany’s DAX Index tumbled 35% to the lowest level since May 25, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In Budapest, volumes fell 47% and in Prague the decline reached 66%. The exchanges, along with those in Vienna, Zagreb and Ljubljana, share Deutsche Boerse’s T7 trading system.The technical glitch lasting about three hours muted market activity during an already quiet trading week, as the U.S. prepares for a public holiday and with many traders away from their screens for summer vacations. It was Deutsche Boerse’s second major malfunction this year as a result of a software issue, leaving market participants wondering whether there could be more.“I hope we won’t see a repeat of this breakdown -- such an outage should remain an exception,” said Guillermo Hernandez Sampere, head of trading at asset manager MPPM EK in Eppstein, Germany. “Any trader who misses profits will not be amused.”Some traders were frustrated by the decision to resume derivatives trading, including bund futures, on the Eurex platform 30 minutes earlier than on Xetra, according to Hernandez Sampere.To be sure, Wednesday’s slump in volumes wasn’t limited to European stock exchanges hit by the T7 trading system’s crash. The FTSE 100 also saw an 8.6% decline in trading volumes, while the drop for the CAC 40 was 7.7%.“It was the first day of the month and most investors are likely to have done their trades before or at month-end as it was half year-end on Tuesday,” said Matthew McLoughlin, London-based head of trading at Liontrust Investment Partners LLP. “Also, U.S. investors will have a quieter week building up to the fourth of July holiday, so that could have had an impact. I agree that volume could have been made up for in the closing auction, but I don’t think there was demand for it yesterday.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Deutsche Boerse Resolves Second Major Trading Outage of 2020
(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Boerse AG’s electronic trading system was unavailable due to a technical glitch throughout Wednesday morning, the exchange’s second major outage this year, disrupting derivatives and stock markets in several central and eastern European countries and hampering bond sales in the region.Germany’s benchmark DAX Index turned negative as trading in cash equities gradually resumed at noon in Frankfurt. Derivatives including bund futures had resumed trading on the Eurex platform 30 minutes earlier, after their hours-long halt had prompted Denmark to postpone a bond auction.In the course of the afternoon, exchanges in Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Zagreb and Ljubljana -- all sharing Deutsche Boerse’s T7 trading system -- also returned to normal operations. In mid-June, Austrian exchange operator Vienna Borse said it had extended its technology partnership with Deutsche Boerse for five years.Software BugThe previous shutdown of the system, in mid-April, hobbled trading across the same set of central and eastern European markets. Both outages were caused by faulty software from a third party, which has been repaired and continues to be part of the trading system, a spokesman for the exchange told Bloomberg.“The disruption in the T7 system in April and today’s failure had the same origin. They were due to faulty third-party software that is part of the trading system. We now understand the exact cause and have eliminated the issue. The system is now running stably and we expect it to remain so. External causes can be ruled out.”\-- Deutsche Boerse spokesman Patrick Kalbhenn“It’s very rare for the market to be out for so long, but I’m glad it happened today, when we don’t have any major data or corporate news and not last week when Wirecard news hit the stock,” said Guillermo Hernandez Sampere, head of trading at asset manager MPPM EK in Eppstein, Germany. “The majority of trading now happens during the closing auction anyways, so the volumes can still catch up.”While this isn’t Deutsche Boerse’s first glitch in 2020, the exchange operator has had a relatively low failure rate in recent years, M.M. Warburg & Co. analyst Andreas Plaesier told Bloomberg, noting that its trading venues held up well during periods of extreme volatility in March and April.(Expands explanation offered by the exchange.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
Cboe to launch Dutch derivatives hub in 2021
Cboe Global Markets said on Wednesday it will launch derivatives trading and clearing at its new European hub in Amsterdam next year as it completes a costlier-than-expected takeover of EuroCCP clearing house. The Chicago-based group had already opened a share trading hub in the Dutch financial capital in October 2019 to avoid Brexit disrupting European share trading operations in London. It will build on the hub to offer trading in equity futures and options based on six Cboe Europe stock indices in the first half of 2021, with plans to add more benchmarks later.
- Reuters
Deutsche Boerse says software glitch caused trading outage
The reappearance of a software glitch that was first seen in April was behind a nearly three hour outage on Wednesday on Germany's electronic trading platform Xetra, the exchange operator Deutsche Boerse said. The issue resulted from a problem with third-party software and has been fixed, Deutsche Boerse said. "The system is now running stably and we expect it to remain so," Deutsche Boerse said on Wednesday.
- Reuters
European exchanges oppose shorter stock trading day sought by London firms
Shorter hours would not be in the best interests of investors or stock markets, European bourses said on Wednesday, dashing hopes at banks and investment firms in London of cutting 90 minutes from the trading day. The Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) said shorter hours would be a move in the wrong direction. The current European trading day is 0900-1730 continental European time, longer than in Asia or Wall Street.
- Reuters
EU to propose single stock report to compete with London, document shows
The European Union will propose a single report on stock market transactions as part of efforts to build a "truly integrated" capital market after Brexit, an EU document showed on Thursday. The European Commission is working on the next phase in creating a capital markets union (CMU) to help companies raise more funds by issuing stocks and bonds as the economy recovers from COVID-19. A "consolidated tape" that knits together upwards of 20 trading platforms across Europe is a longstanding ambition to replicate the efficiencies of the U.S. stock market.
- Reuters
EU delays greater competition in derivatives market by a year
The European Union said it has delayed the introduction of rules aimed at increasing competition in derivatives clearing after concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic has hindered market preparations. Representatives of EU states and the European Parliament cited "adverse circumstances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic", a statement from the Council of EU states said. The rules would allow market participants to choose where they want to clear their listed derivatives trades, pitting clearers like the London Stock Exchange's LCH, Deutsche Boerse's Eurex, and ICE against each other.
- Bloomberg
Italian Exchange Seen as Next Target in Battle of the Bourses
(Bloomberg) -- Italy’s national stock market could find itself at the center of a multibillion-euro bidding war if its owner, the London Stock Exchange Group Plc, is forced to sell it to push through a landmark takeover of data provider Refinitiv.European authorities on Monday decided to launch a full antitrust review of the $27 billion LSE-Refinitiv deal, flagging competition concerns around businesses including data and government bond trading. It raises the prospect of the LSE needing to dispose of certain assets in order to appease regulators.Rival European exchanges are already interested in one of these assets: Borsa Italiana SpA, according to people familiar with the matter. The Milan-based exchange could draw bids of about 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) to 3.5 billion euros if it’s put up for sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified as discussions are private.The LSE has owned Borsa Italiana since 2007 and wants to keep it. The Italian operations generated 14% of all LSE revenue last year, according to Bloomberg data, and allow the U.K. group to keep a foothold in the European Union.“I would have thought the LSE would want to hang onto it in a post-Brexit world,” said Niki Beattie, founder of Market Structure Partners.Still, the LSE could have its hand forced. Borsa Italiana is the majority owner of fixed income platform MTS SpA, which will come under the same roof as Refinitiv-backed bond venue Tradeweb Markets if the deal goes through -- creating a dominant player in European government debt trading.The EU often demands the sale of overlapping businesses to prevent a merged entity from becoming too powerful and has been unafraid of wielding its ultimate threat to veto deals. It was the LSE’s unwillingness to sell MTS that scuppered its transformative merger with Germany’s Deutsche Boerse AG in 2017.The European Commission has set a deadline of Oct. 27 to rule on LSE-Refinitiv. A representative for the LSE declined to comment.Italy FootholdConsolidation among European exchanges has been rife for years. Deutsche Boerse remains on the lookout for larger deal opportunities following the collapse of its LSE tie-up, while Euronext NV has been growing aggressively under acquisitive Chief Executive Officer Stephane Boujnah.Euronext is interested in acquiring Borsa Italiana, one of the people said. The operator of multiple single-country exchanges in Europe is keen to add to its stable, having recently missed out on Spain’s Bolsas y Mercados Espanoles SHMSF SA. Boujnah declined to comment on Borsa Italiana on a media call this month, saying the LSE had made it clear it didn’t want to sell.For Deutsche Boerse, a move for Borsa Italiana would give it a chance to deploy the 2 billion euros of excess cash it has earmarked for mergers and acquisitions. The exchange will look at a possible bid for the Italian group if it’s put on the block, according to one person.“Deutsche Boerse and Euronext would be interested as both need M&A to lift revenue growth and could benefit from cost synergies,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Lento Tang. “Euronext is likely to be more keen as it could strengthen its Italy foothold, in line with its pan-European federal business model.”Representatives for Deutsche Boerse and Euronext declined to comment.Rome InterestBoth could face competition from Rome. Italy’s coalition government is uncomfortable that national assets like Borsa Italiana and MTS are owned by the LSE, a non-EU entity, and has taken advice from Mediobanca SpA on the matter, one of the people said.“We consider Borsa Italiana a strategic asset with a great potential, so we are closely following the issue,” Italian Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri said at a press conference this month.Representatives for Mediobanca and the Italian finance ministry declined to comment. A spokesperson for the office of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.LSE Chief Executive Officer David Schwimmer said in February that he didn’t expect ownership of Borsa Italiana to change. The LSE said in a statement on Monday that it “continues to engage constructively” with the European Commission on its review.“If Borsa Italiana were to leave LSE Group, I don’t think that would be a good thing for Italian financial markets in the long run,” Xavier Rolet, former LSE CEO, told Bloomberg TV earlier in June.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
New Wirecard CEO Has Few Days to Calm Nervous Investors
(Bloomberg) -- James Freis took charge of Wirecard AG on Friday following the shock announcement that Markus Braun had resigned as chief executive officer. The question he faces on Monday is what, if anything, he will be able to salvage of the payment company.Braun’s position became untenable following revelations that about 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) -- or two-thirds of the company’s 2019 revenue -- had gone missing. The two Asian banks that were supposed to be holding the money denied any business relationship with Wirecard and the company subsequently withdrew its fiscal 2019 and first-quarter 2020 financial results after saying those funds on its balance sheet probably don’t exist.The chaos has shaved about 85% off Wirecard’s market value over just three trading days. As interim CEO, Freis has to convince investors that the collapse isn’t terminal.He has some relevant experience. He began his career as an attorney at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. After a spell as director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, where he was responsible for the regulation of financial institutions, he spent 6 years at Deutsche Boerse AG, most recently as chief compliance officer.Freis wasn’t meant to start at Wirecard until July. He also wasn’t meant to be running the company -- last week, he was supposed to be getting ready to run a new department called “Integrity, Legal and Compliance.” Now, his first priority will be to work closely with the company’s lenders, who are demanding more clarity in return for the extension of almost $2 billion in financing after Wirecard breached terms on the loan. At least 15 commercial lenders, including Commerzbank AG and ABN Amro, are in negotiations about the next steps.Wirecard said it’s in “constructive talks” with its lenders, and has hired investment bank Houlihan Lokey Inc. to come up with a financing strategy. However, a prolonged extension of Wirecard’s repayment obligation could be seen as delaying insolvency, which is illegal under German law.In Braun’s parting note on Friday he said the “confidence of the capital market in the company I have been managing for 18 years has been deeply shaken.” He added that responsibility for all business transactions lies with the CEO.Now Freis will need to build up that confidence to halt a share price that went into free fall -- the stock was down 36% at 10:58 a.m. in Frankfurt trading. Long-term investors have cut their stakes in Wirecard, while Deutsche Bank AG’s asset manager DWS said it will file a lawsuit against both Wirecard and Braun, a company spokesman said on Friday.The price of credit swaps on Wirecard indicate 82% odds of default by Christmas and 96% likelihood over five years, according to ICE Data Services on Friday, while Moody’s Investors Service cut Wirecard’s credit ratings six levels, putting it one step from the lowest tier of junk.Wirecard is also facing multiple investigations by local prosecutors and BaFin, the German financial regulator. One of Freis’ tasks will be to clarify with regulators what happened to the missing cash and what the implications will be to Wirecard’s balance sheet.The problem has been compounded after Philippine central bank Governor Benjamin Diokno told reporters on Sunday that none of the missing money entered the Philippine financial system, after two of its major lenders denied holding funds for the German payments processor.The company has also been forced to reassure customers that it is business as normal at its banking arm. Wirecard started offering a digital wallet called boon Planet in 2019. The app, similar to Paypal, was advertised in January this year with an attractive yield for account balances. While it is unclear how much money customers deposited at the app, the company sent out a message on Saturday reassuring its clients that their deposits are protected by a German state guarantee fund.German politicians are now taking aim at Wirecard, once seen as proof that Germany could build a fintech giant to take on U.S. rivals.“BaFin started its investigations early on, but sadly that couldn’t prevent the striking losses for investors,” said Florian Toncar, a German lawmaker from the opposition Free Democrats. “It would be very good to see BaFin use the tools at its disposal to quickly provide investors with clarity.”Freis posted his job update on LinkedIn shortly after the announcement. One contact responded that it sounds like “one heck of a turn around project” but that Wirecard has found the right guy to restore credibility. In a reply, Freis quipped that the “one upside...is that I never have to worry about finding a beer when I need one at the end of the day.”(Updates with share price in eighth paragraph, additional context.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Germany’s Fintech Star Falls After Missing Billions at Wirecard
(Bloomberg) -- Just a month ago, the chief executive officer of Wirecard AG boasted on Twitter that the future would still be bright for the digital payments company when “all the noise and dust settles.”At the time, Markus Braun was a paper billionaire. But over the course of a couple of days, the fintech veteran has been forced to step-down as CEO and seen the value of his stake dwindle after a two-day stock rout.Braun’s position at the German payments company became untenable after revelations on Thursday that about 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) -- two-thirds of 2019 revenue and about a quarter of the firm’s consolidated balance sheet -- had gone missing. Two Asian banks that were supposed to be holding the money it denied any business relationship with Wirecard, raising fresh questions about the embattled company.After years of allegations of wrongdoing, Bruan was at the center of the controversy, with repeated assurances that Wirecard’s accounts were above the board, despite Wirecard headquarters being searched in early June by German prosecutors as part of a criminal probe involving the company’s senior management.The executive, who’s also the company’s largest shareholder, will now be replaced on an interim basis by James Freis, who was originally appointed in May to take the new role of chief compliance officer.Freis is stepping into an almost unprecedented situation. The interim CEO wasn’t supposed to join until July, when he was going to be responsible for a newly created department called “Integrity, Legal and Compliance.”Previously head of compliance at Deutsche Boerse AG, Fries held the position of director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, where he was responsible for the regulation of financial institutions.He will need to act fast to restore trust and reassure creditors. Failure to publish audited results on Friday triggers the potential termination of up to 2 billion euros in loans. Wirecard said it is in “constructive” talks with its banks to continue credit lines and the further business relationship.“A change in management was warranted for some time and following yesterday’s events and the further decline in Wirecard shares today, we are not surprised that the CEO is stepping down,” said Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. “There may be no quick fix.”The story of Wirecard’s woes trace back to Braun, who may have been too invested in the company, making him either unwilling or unable to see issues and take corrective measures.When Braun joined Wirecard in 2002, the payments company had a few dozen employees and in its early years serviced mainly clients active in online gambling and porn. The Austrian national since engineered a growth story by acquiring companies in the U.S. and Asia. Today, customers include Germany’s most successful soccer club Bayern Munich, French mobile phone carrier Orange SA and Swedish furniture giant Ikea.In September 2018, Wirecard replaced Commerzbank AG in Germany’s elite DAX index, making Braun a star of the country’s digital ambitions.“Markus Braun’s resignation was overdue,” said Danyal Bayaz, a lawmaker with Germany’s Greens. “Wirecard is not a small fintech, but a DAX member.”Unlike U.S. tech billionaires, Braun usually sports a suit instead of a hoodie, but generally shuns wearing a tie. He got a degree in computer science from the Technical University of Vienna and a doctorate in social and economic sciences. He worked as a management consultant at KPMG before joining Wirecard.Even after winning SoftBank Group Corp. as an investor in April last year, Braun had been unable to re-establish trust following a series of articles in early 2019 by the Financial Times about potential fraud. Despite aggressive denials and allegations of market manipulation leveled at the reporter, the company acknowledged irregularities following an independent investigation that had access only to limited information.Braun’s response to the latest crisis followed a similar pattern: downplay or dismiss the allegations, paint the company as a victim and attempt to switch over to business as usual.At 8:19 a.m. on Thursday -- a time when investors were nervously awaiting delayed 2019 financial results -- Wirecard posted on Twitter about how Chinese shopping trends were favoring its business model, sparking enraged comments as the stock collapse took shape hours later.The company was well aware of the issue at the time of the feel-good tweet. Chief Operating Officer Jan Marsalek, who has been temporarily suspended, had tried to get in touch with the two Asian banks and trustees over the past two days to recover the missing money, according to a person familiar with the matter.In the direct aftermath, Braun pointed the finger at everyone but himself.“It is currently unclear whether fraudulent transactions to the detriment of Wirecard AG have occurred,” he said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the company will file a complaint against unnamed persons. “It cannot be ruled out that Wirecard has been the victim in a substantial case of fraud,” he said later.Long-term investors criticized Braun for being too much of a “techie” -- big on vision but short on management expertise. They’ve noted that he was very loyal to employees and resisted firing people. Those characteristics could have made him too trusting to delve into compliance issues as many in charge of those areas have long histories with the CEO.Center stage is not where Braun says he’s comfortable. The computer scientist steers Wirecard from a suburban office park, a world away from the glittering urban towers that house most financial powerhouses. He calls himself shy -- his birthdate isn’t publicly known and the company only acknowledges him being born in Vienna in 1969 -- but there’s more than a hint of false modesty.He aggressively pushed the company’s expansion, executing numerous takeovers of smaller and at times intransparent operators. And he wasn’t bashful about trumping up Wirecard’s success.“It can make you stronger and more robust if you focus on the positive and manage to make something positive from negative energy,” he told Bloomberg in an interview in September 2018 with the company at its peak. “Whenever you stick your head out, some people will like it and some won’t.”A year later at banking conference in Frankfurt, the bravado was still there despite months of turmoil over accounting concerns. Sitting on stage alongside, his counterpart at Deutsche Bank AG -- a lynch pin of the German economy and a company will versed in crises -- the moderator asked both men what it meant that Wirecard’s share price was above Deutsch Bank’s, Braun replied: “It means we are both undervalued.”(Updated with additional context.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Wirecard’s Missing Billions Forces Out CEO, Panics Lenders
(Bloomberg) -- Markus Braun’s almost two decades as Wirecard AG’s chief executive officer ended after accusations about the company’s accounting culminated in a shock disclosure that it was unable to locate 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion).James Freis has been appointed interim CEO, the German payments company said in a short statement Friday. A recent hire and former compliance executive at Deutsche Boerse AG, Freis was only named as a member of the management board on Thursday.Braun’s exit comes after a catastrophic few days for Wirecard, which suffered a share price collapse after the two Asian banks that were alleged to be holding the missing cash denied any business relationship with the company.Read More: Germany’s Fintech Star Falls on Failure to Clean Up WirecardWirecard is now facing a potential cash crunch. The company warned Thursday that loans of as much as 2 billion euros could be terminated if its audited annual report is not published on Friday. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimated that Wirecard has available cash of around 220 million euros if it cannot locate the missing $2.1 billion.Wirecard’s lenders are considering hiring outside help as they seek to navigate the risk of a potentially massive default, a person familiar with the matter said.Named CEO in 2002, Braun has put tens of millions of euros of his own funds into the firm. The value of his stake, which once made him a paper billionaire, has dwindled in the course of the rout.His replacement is stepping into an almost unprecedented situation. Freis wasn’t supposed to join until July, when he was going to be responsible for a newly created department called “Integrity, Legal and Compliance.”Freis was previously head of compliance at Deutsche Boerse AG, and held the position of Director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, where he was responsible for the regulation of financial institutions.The interim CEO will need to quickly reassure Wirecard’s business partners. Wirecard has licenses with Visa, Mastercard and JCB International, through which Wirecard’s banking arm issues its credit cards. If Wirecard is unable to find its missing cash, Visa and Mastercard may have cause to revoke the licenses.“The big question is whether they retain the Visa and Mastercard licenses,” Neil Campling, analyst at Mirabaud said. “Without those they have no business.”Mastercard said it is following the developments at Wirecard but did not want to comment on specific customer conversations or situations. Visa did not have an immediate comment.Missing CashWirecard claimed on Thursday that auditor Ernst & Young couldn’t confirm the location of the missing cash that was supposed to be held at two Asian banks and reported that “spurious balance confirmations” had been provided.The confusion deepened on Friday when BDO Unibank Inc., the Philippines’ largest bank by assets, and the Bank of the Philippine Islands, said on Friday that Wirecard isn’t a client.“It was a rogue employee who falsified documents and forged the signatures of our officers,” BDO Unibank CEO Nestor Tan said in a mobile phone message. “Wirecard is not even a depositor -- we have no relationship with them.”A document purporting to show a link between Wirecard and the Bank of the Philippine Islands was “bogus” and may be part of an attempted fraud, the president of the Southeast Asian lender said in a phone interview.Wirecard shares plunged as much as 52% in Frankfurt on Friday. The selloff in Wirecard’s bonds also intensified, with the company’s 500 million-euro bonds maturing in 2024 falling a further 14 cents to trade at 24 cents. Its 900 million euros of convertible bonds are now indicated at less than 10 cents on the euro.Wirecard was worth 24.6 billion euros in September 2018 when it entered Germany’s Dax index, and widely considered as one of Germany’s few successful fintech stories. It was valued at about 2.4 billion euros on Friday morning.Wirecard spokespeople did not return calls and emails for comment.Historic SlumpWirecard’s reversal of fortune has caught its supporters off guard. Some of the company’s most loyal shareholders are now dumping their stakes as allegations of accounting impropriety engulf the German payments company. Analysts are also quickly changing their recommendations, despite continued concerns about the company’s accounting.As of Wednesday, 10 out of 25 analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommended buying the stock. Since then, at least nine analysts have removed their recommendations and three have downgraded the stock to sell.German financial markets regulator BaFin said it is also examining Wirecard’s disclosure on Thursday as part of its investigation into whether the company violated rules against market manipulation, according to a spokeswoman.BaFin has three investigations of Wirecard running: whether the company manipulated markets with its disclosures, whether Braun’s stock purchase ahead of the planned publication of the company’s annual report violated market abuse roles and whether the company and its management are fit to be the owners of a bank.Fraud ClaimsBraun has previously painted the company as a potential victim, resisting calls to resign and aggressively defending Wirecard against accusations of accounting fraud, led by a series of articles in the Financial Times.“It cannot be ruled out that Wirecard has been the victim in a substantial case of fraud,” Braun said in a statement published overnight.The company temporarily suspended its outgoing Chief Operating Officer Jan Marsalek, it said in a statement late Thursday. Marsalek -- who has been suspended on a revocable basis until June 30 -- had tried to get in touch with the two Asian banks and trustees over the past two days to recover the missing money, but wasn’t successful, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. It’s unclear if the funds can be recovered, the person added.German politicians are now asking how such a rapid collapse could happen to a fintech company that was once worth more than Deutsche Bank, and previously supported by local regulators. Early last year BaFin took the unprecedented step of temporarily banning short sales of Wirecard shares following reports of suspicious accounting practices.“Markus Braun’s resignation was overdue,” said Danyal Bayaz, a lawmaker with Germany’s Greens. “Wirecard is not a small fintech, but a DAX member.”(Updates with statement from Visa and the Bank of the Philippine Islands.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
LSE offers no concessions to avert deeper EU probe of Refinitiv deal-sources
The London Stock Exchange will not offer concessions to EU antitrust regulators reviewing its $27 billion bid for data and analytics company Refinitiv, two people familiar with the matter said, a move which will likely trigger a four-month probe. The EU's antitrust authority is expected to open a full-scale investigation into the takeover, the sources said, with LSE and Refinitiv's overlapping activities in areas such as fixed income trading likely to be in focus as well as the impact of the deal on the price of financial data. Data, whether financial or technology or industrial, is a key concern for the European Commission (EC) because of the power it can give a few players to dominate and lock out new rivals.
- Reuters
EU eases rules for some foreign clearers in nod to United States
A new European Union law requiring closer scrutiny of foreign clearing houses used by customers from the bloc has been simplified after the United States threatened retaliation. The law was triggered by Britain's departure from the bloc as the London Stock Exchange's LCH clearing house clears the bulk of interest rate swaps denominated in euros. U.S. regulators threatened retaliatory measures if Brussels began to closely supervise U.S clearers such as CME Group and ICE (Intercontinental Exchange), saying it would increase their costs.
- Reuters
Deutsche Boerse chief says plans to fulfil his term as CEO
Deutsche Boerse <DB1Gn.DE> Chief Executive Theodor Weimer said on Tuesday that he planned to complete his term through the end of 2024 at the helm of the stock exchange operator. The statement sought to assure investors that he would not jump ship to chair Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> when that post opens in 2022. Weimer, who has been nominated to join Deutsche Bank's supervisory board as a regular member, has been seen as a successor to take the helm of the bank's board when Chairman Paul Achleitner retires in 2022, people with knowledge of the matter have said.
- Simply Wall St.
Should You Buy Deutsche Börse AG (ETR:DB1) For Its Upcoming Dividend In 2 Days?
It looks like Deutsche Börse AG (ETR:DB1) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 2 days. This means that investors who...
- Reuters
Deutsche Boerse says acquisitions to play major role in strategy
Acquisitions will play a "major role" in Deutsche Boerse's <DB1Gn.DE> strategy update later this year, the chief of the stock exchange said. Theodor Weimer, in a speech to be delivered to shareholders at its annual shareholder meeting, said the exchange operator would be presenting the strategy in the fourth quarter when the fog of the crisis has cleared up. "For today just this much: acquisitions will be playing a major role there," he said.
- Thomson Reuters StreetEvents
Edited Transcript of DB1.DE earnings conference call or presentation 30-Apr-20 12:00pm GMT
Q1 2020 Deutsche Boerse AG Earnings Call
- Reuters
Deutsche Boerse first-quarter profit up 33%, in line with expectations
German exchange operator Deutsche Boerse <DB1Gn.DE> on Wednesday posted a 33% rise in first-quarter net profit, in line with expectations, and left its guidance for the year unchanged. Wild swings in financial markets helped Deutsche Boerse revenue, which rose 27% to 914.8 million euros ($993.38 million). Consolidated net profit was 367.2 million euros, up from 275.2 million euros a year ago.
- Simply Wall St.
What Is Deutsche Börse's (ETR:DB1) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Rocketed?
Deutsche Börse (ETR:DB1) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has had a great month, posting...
- Reuters
EU watchdog cautions rating agencies over knee-jerk downgrades in pandemic
Credit rating agencies should avoid deepening the coronavirus crisis by quick-fire downgrades of countries and companies as the pandemic pushes economies into recession, the European Union's securities market chief said on Thursday. Steven Maijoor, chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said the watchdog has intensified its interactions with rating agencies to understand how they are responding to the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic has shut down large swathes of the economy, with France already in recession as businesses are forced to obtain loans and furlough millions of staff to stay afloat.
- Reuters
Stock market auctions should drive broker innovation -Norway wealth fund
The sharp rise in trading volumes during closing auctions at global stock markets requires more innovation by brokers to capture value for buy-side investors, one of the world's largest asset managers said on Tuesday. Gradually introduced by major stock markets since the late 1990s, auctions held in the final minutes of trade were initially seen as an efficient, hard-to-manipulate way to establish end-of-day prices. The percentage of daily trade taking place in those final minutes roughly doubled between 2014 and 2019 in both Europe and the United States however, NBIM's calculations show, turning them into major trading opportunities with ample liquidity.
- Reuters
Short-selling bans achieve nothing useful - exchanges body
Banning short-selling of shares gives the impression of responding decisively to events without achieving any useful result, the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) said on Monday. In an unusually blunt statement, the global umbrella group for exchanges and clearing houses said bourses already have safeguards like circuit breakers to slow markets during bouts of extreme volatility. Several European Union countries, including Spain, Italy, France and Belgium have banned traders borrowing a company stock with a view to selling it, hoping to buy it back later at a lower price and pocket the difference, a practice that critics say can exacerbate market moves amid panic selling.
- Reuters
Deutsche Bank warns virus may 'materially' impact targets
Deutsche Bank said on Friday that the impact of the coronavirus outbreak may affect the lender's ability to meet its financial targets as the fragile bank undergoes a major revamp after years of losses. Deutsche's shares have fallen to a record low amid a broad market rout. Last year, Deutsche posted a 5.7 billion euro ($6.13 billion) loss, its fifth in a row, as the cost of its latest turnaround attempt hit earnings.
ReutersEXPLAINER-Global market rout triggers trading suspension debate
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has sparked a global debate by suggesting New York's trading day could be shortened for a time to help calm stock markets rocked by coronavirus. Greece shut its stock market for nearly five weeks in 2015 at the height of its debt crisis.
- Reuters
European exchanges pledge to stay open during virus volatility
Closing stock exchanges due to the coronavirus epidemic would not change the underlying cause of market volatility and could trigger defaults, the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) said on Tuesday. "European exchanges will and should continue to remain open at all times to ensure safety, integrity and fairness in a secure and transparent manner," FESE said in a statement. "Closing the markets would not change the underlying cause of the market volatility, it would remove transparency of investor sentiment and reduce investors access to their money," FESE said.
