Status: 05/31/2022 12:08 p.m
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Public prosecutors, police and financial regulators have started searching the headquarters of Deutsche Bank and the premises of its fund subsidiary DWS. The raid is related to “greenwashing” allegations.
Task forces from the public prosecutor’s office, financial supervisory authority and the Federal Criminal Police Office are searching the headquarters of Deutsche Bank and its fund subsidiary DWS in Frankfurt am Main. According to the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office, the allegation of capital investment fraud is at stake. “The investigations have been running since the beginning of the year and are still directed against unknown persons,” a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office told the “Handelsblatt”. So far, there are no named suspects.
The background to the raid, which is said to be carried out by around 50 officers, is the “greenwashing” allegations against DWS that have been circulating for months. According to this, the asset manager is said to have overestimated the information on sustainability criteria and in truth not have progressed as far as stated on issues such as environmental and climate protection.
Allegations of 2021
“After the examination, there were sufficient factual indications that, contrary to the information in the sales prospectuses of DWS funds, ESG factors were actually only taken into account in a minority of the investments,” the public prosecutor said. In a large number of investments, however, these ESG factors – the abbreviation stands for “environment, social, governance” – “did not receive any attention”. This raises the accusation of prospectus fraud.
The investigations were triggered by statements made in 2021 by the former sustainability officer at DWS, Desiree Fixler. DWS has always denied the allegations. A spokesman for DWS has now confirmed the searches and said on request: “We have worked continuously and extensively with all relevant regulatory authorities on this matter and will continue to do so.” Deutsche Bank referred to the statement by DWS and also stated in writing: “The measures taken by the public prosecutor are directed against unknown persons in connection with greenwashing allegations made against DWS.”
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