{"id":31958,"date":"2022-06-01T12:09:02","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T12:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/deutsche-bank-dws-ceo-steps-down-after-greenwashing-raid\/"},"modified":"2022-06-01T12:09:02","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T12:09:02","slug":"deutsche-bank-dws-ceo-steps-down-after-greenwashing-raid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/deutsche-bank-dws-ceo-steps-down-after-greenwashing-raid\/","title":{"rendered":"Deutsche Bank: DWS CEO steps down after ‘greenwashing’ raid"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The chief executive of top German asset manager DWS will step down next week, he said on Wednesday, a day after raids by prosecutors over allegations that the company misled investors about \u201cgreen\u201d investments.\n <\/p>\n
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The raids and the departure of DWS CEO Asoka Woehrmann mark another setback for Deutsche Bank (DB), DWS’s majority owner, which has been trying to move on from regulatory breaches, including money laundering and securities mis-selling, leading to billions in fines.\n <\/p>\n
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DWS has been dogged by the accusations for months, prompting German prosecutors to conduct the raids on DWS and the headquarters of Deutsche Bank on Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n
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German officials have been investigating reports and a whistleblower’s allegations that DWS had exaggerated the green credentials of investments it sold – a practice known as greenwashing. DWS has repeatedly denied that it misled investors.\n <\/p>\n
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Woehrmann, told employees in a memo that it was a joy to see DWS flourish but that “allegations …, however unfounded or undefendable, have left a mark.”\n <\/p>\n
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“To quote Charles Dickens: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he said in the memo, which was seen by Reuters.\n <\/p>\n
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Deutsche Bank, which retained majority ownership of DWS after its initial public offering, has marketed itself as bank companies can turn to as they seek a greener future.\n <\/p>\n
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On Tuesday, German prosecutors said that “sufficient factual evidence has emerged” to show that environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors were taken into account in a minority of investments “but were not taken into account at all in a large number of investments , \u201dContrary to statements in DWS fund sales prospectuses.\n <\/p>\n
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission and German financial watchdog BaFin last year launched separate investigations into the whistleblower’s allegations. The whistleblower, a former head of sustainability at DWS, had said that the company overstated how it used sustainable investing criteria to manage investments.\n <\/p>\n