Published on : 01/06/2022 – 09:46
Frankfurt (AFP) – The boss of Deutsche Bank’s DWS asset management subsidiary has resigned, Germany’s top bank said, shortly following raids in an investigation into investments sold as more sustainable than they actually were.
Asoka Wöhrmann, pure product of Deutsche Bank and close to the boss of the banking group Christian Sewing, will be replaced the day following the general meeting of June 9 by Stefan Hoops, current director of the investment bank, according to a press release from the bank. , published overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.
The announcement comes following searches Tuesday at the premises of Deutsche Bank and the subsidiary DWS, accused of “greenwashing” and the target of an investigation for “fraud”.
Justice has, to date, found “indications that, contrary to what is indicated in the sales prospectuses of the funds” promoted as “sustainable” and managed by DWS, the ESG criteria (for environmental, social and governance, editor’s note) “have not been taken into account in a large number of investments”, explained the prosecution.
The alert had been given to the American market police (SEC) and the American federal police (FBI) by the former head of sustainable development within DWS, Desiree Fixler, who accused the asset manager of have inflated the size of its investments meeting ESG criteria.
In many countries, initiatives are multiplying to combat “greenwashing”, or the exaggerated or even misleading promotion by companies of their initiatives in the fight once morest global warming.
But this is not the first scandal around Mr. Wöhrmann, head of DWS since 2018.
A Financial Times investigation earlier this year revealed his controversial use of a private email address and a payment of 160,000 euros received from a bank client.
Mr. Wöhrmann and the client explained that the transaction took place “in the context of an unsuccessful attempt to buy a Porsche”, according to the British newspaper.
“The accusations once morest me have become a burden for the company, my family and myself,” said Mr. Wöhrmann in a press release from DWS. “To protect the institution and my family, I want to pave the way for renewal,” he said.
© 2022 AFP
