[ad_1]
The chief government of Germany’s prime asset administration agency DWS Group has resigned hours after the corporate’s places of work in Frankfurt have been raided by police over allegations of greenwashing.
DWS mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday morning that Asoka Wöhrmann, chief government since late 2018, would step down as of June 10, the day after the group’s annual shareholders’ assembly.
He shall be changed by Stefan Hoops, beforehand head of the company financial institution at Deutsche Financial institution, DWS’s majority proprietor, which holds an 80 per cent stake. Hoops shall be changed in flip by British-born David Lynne, who at present heads Deutsche’s company enterprise within the Asia-Pacific area.
The manager reshuffle got here shortly after about 50 German police raided the places of work of DWS and Deutsche Financial institution in downtown Frankfurt on Tuesday, as a part of an investigation into potential prospectus fraud on the asset supervisor. The search concerned public prosecutors from Frankfurt, federal police and officers from the German monetary regulator, BaFin.
BaFin launched an investigation into DWS final yr, following an identical probe by the US Securities and Change Fee, which was prompted by allegations from former DWS government Desiree Fixler.
Fixler mentioned the corporate had made deceptive statements in its 2020 annual report over claims that greater than half the group’s $900bn belongings have been invested utilizing environmental, social and governance standards.
DWS has denied any wrongdoing, however has modified its ESG standards since Fixler’s revelations. In its 2021 annual report, printed in March 2022, DWS reported solely €115bn in “ESG belongings” for 2021 — 75 per cent lower than a yr earlier when it said that €459bn in belongings have been “ESG built-in”.
The group’s shares fell by greater than 6 per cent on Wednesday morning in Frankfurt, whereas Deutsche Financial institution’s shares dropped by half a share level.
Wöhrmann’s alternative within the wake of the greenwashing raid comes just a few months after the Monetary Occasions revealed that Deutsche Financial institution was investigating a €160,000 fee made by a consumer to the senior banker, when he was head of the lender’s non-public consumer enterprise. The manager mentioned the switch was a part of a failed try to purchase a Porsche.
Wöhrmann has additionally confronted criticism over his use of a private e mail handle for enterprise functions throughout his time at Deutsche.
In an announcement launched by DWS, Wöhrmann mentioned he was leaving “to clear the way in which for a contemporary begin,” as “allegations made towards DWS and myself in previous months have turn out to be a burden for the corporate, in addition to for my household.”
Karl von Rohr, chair of DWS, mentioned that Wöhrmann had performed a “main function” within the financial institution’s asset administration operation in recent times. “Below his management, DWS has expanded its market place and carried out effectively in a not too long ago difficult setting,” he mentioned.
[ad_2]
Source link