Following its failures related to collapsed payments company Wirecard, EY, an accounting firm, has been prohibited from accepting new auditing clients who are "of public interest" in Germany for two years.

This prohibition was imposed by German auditor supervisory authority APAS due to "breaches of professional duty" committed by EY between 2016 and 2018. APAS has also fined EY €500,000 and imposed small penalties on five of its employees.

Wirecard, which was considered a rising blue chip company, collapsed in 2020 after a €1.9 billion hole was found in its balance sheet. EY provided unqualified audits to the company for more than a decade, but refused to sign off on its 2019 results.

As a result of this scandal, EY has lost several major clients in Germany, including Commerzbank, DWS, and KfW. In January, it was reported that Commerzbank is suing EY for the recovery of €200 million in losses related to the collapse.

Former Wirecard CEO Marcus Braun is currently on trial and facing charges of fraud, misappropriation of corporate assets, accounting fraud, and market manipulation. He has pleaded not guilty.