Former finance minister
Lindner joins a US consulting firm – and rejects criticism
Christian Lindner has a new job: The former FDP leader becomes senior advisor for the American Teneo company. He obviously doesn’t see a conflict of interest.
Former Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has rejected criticism of his planned entry into the US consulting firm Teneo. “The federal government should and will examine possible conflicts of interest. There are appropriate procedures for this,” the “Rheinische Post” learned on Saturday from Lindner’s immediate environment.
The US company Teneo advises companies and authorities worldwide. One customer is the Italian Unicredit, which acquired shares in Commerzbank during Lindner’s term as finance minister and wants to take over the German bank.
Christian Lindner is supposed to advise customers for a US company – also in Germany
On Wednesday, Teneo announced Lindner’s entry. He will advise customers in the USA, Germany and other EU countries for the company.
However, the change of the former minister and FDP leader is causing criticism: the non-governmental organization LobbyControl warned of a “significant conflict of interest”, the Left called on the federal government not to approve his entry into Teneo.
“The Commerzbank and Unicredit process was known to have taken place below ministerial level at the time,” Lindner’s entourage told the “Rheinische Post”. “But in any case, neither lobbying the government nor transactions will be the subject of the activity.”
Possible conflict of interest – Berlin has to approve Lindner’s new job
The federal government still has to approve the former FDP leader’s entry into Teneo. In Germany, former members of the government have a waiting period of twelve months between leaving office and taking on jobs in business. This is intended to prevent conflicts of interest.
In exceptional cases, this period can be extended to 18 months if public interests are at risk. During this time, the federal government must approve the move to the new positions.
The Union has already signaled its approval of Lindner’s new job. Lindner’s change is “approvable as long as transparency and waiting periods are adhered to,” said Union parliamentary group vice-president Sepp Müller to the “Rheinische Post”. “Politics and economics should not be opposites – their exchange can benefit both sides if it is open and rule-based.”
AFP
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Source: Stern
