Dispute over “Green Fund”
Deutsche Bank subsidiary pays millions for Greenwashing
Did the DWS sell green financial products as a “greener” than they actually are? With a further million payment, the fund company wants to draw a line under a legal dispute.
The Deutsche-Bank-Fondsgesellschaft DWS also has to pay a millions in Germany for “Greenwashing” allegations. The public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt, which determined the initial suspicion of the investment fraud, imposed a fine of 25 million euros. The DWS has been accused for a long time to have sold so -called green financial products as “greener” than these are actually – “Greenwashing”.
“We welcome the fact that the investigations by the Frankfurt am Main public prosecutor’s office have now been completed against the DWS,” said the DWS. “We have already said publicly in the past few years that our marketing was partly exuberant. We have already improved the internal documentation and control processes and will continue to work on making further progress here.”
In recent years, investors have increased for sustainable investments. Large investors attach more emphasis on clean investments – also on the EU pressure, which has created a kind of seal of approval for sustainable financial products with their taxonomy. The fund industry has launched a variety of ESG products. However, it is sometimes unclear for outsiders what exactly is counted as sustainable investments.
DWS headquarters searched several times
In search of evidence, public prosecutors searched several times offices of the fund company in Frankfurt. The DWS had always rejected the allegations. In June 2022, however, the boss was exchanged: Deutsche Bank manager Stefan Hoops followed Asoka Wöhrmann.
The DWS had intensively promoted products with ecological and social characteristics (ESG) from mid -2020 to the end of January 2023. ESG stands for environment (environment), social (social) and governance (good corporate management) and is intended to indicate the observance of ecological and social aspects in companies.
According to the findings of the Frankfurt public prosecutor, the impression of a market leading position of the DWS Group was not fulfilled: Marketing statements such as “ESG is an integral part of our DNA” would not have met reality.
Millions of fine also in the United States
Authorities also determined in the United States for “Greenwashing” allegations. At the end of September 2023, the US stock exchange supervision SEC “for violations of anti-money laundering guidelines and incorrect information on ESG investments” to pay a total of $ 25 million (then 23.5 million euros).
Mauricio Vargas, financial expertise of the Environmental Organization Greenpeace, sees the fact that the German judiciary is now following a success: “This historically high penalty payment for Greenwashing is a clear wake -up call for the entire industry: Consumer deception is not a cavalier offense, but was cheating.”
dpa
Source: Stern
