Shares in German payments processing group Wirecard plunged for the third time in little more than a week on Thursday, as the Financial Times alleged senior executives knew of accounting fraud. Stock in the star "fintech" (financial technology) firm fell as much as 19.6 percent in afternoon trading in Frankfurt, before recovering slightly to trade down 15 percent at 110.80 euros ($125.73) by 4:00 pm (1500 GMT).

Earlier Thursday, the FT reported that two senior executives at Wirecard HQ knew of a so-called "round-tripping" scheme - in which cash was moved around between Asian subsidiaries to artificially pad the books - orchestrated in the group's Singapore office.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019