Deutsche Bank has been assaulted for the second time in less than a month, this time by a $ 1 million green money laundering scandal that has rocked the bank.
German regulators claim that DWS, the bank’s asset management arm, sold $ 1 million worth of investment products as more environmentally friendly and “sustainable” than they really were.
The former head of sustainability at DWS denounced the asset manager last year, saying it would often exaggerate the success of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy.
Police raided Deutsche Bank headquarters and the DWS office in Frankfurt on Tuesday.
German prosecutors say “sufficient evidence has emerged” that ESG factors were taken into account in a very small number of investments “but were not taken into account in a large number of investments”, contradicting the statements. made by DWS to potential customers.
DWS is already under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. federal prosecutors on the subject, the largest greenwashing scandal to date.
The asset manager has repeatedly denied all allegations.
After the attack, he said he was cooperating with “all relevant regulatory authorities,” according to the German news agency dpa.
More than 50 people, including federal law enforcement officers and officials of German financial regulator BaFin, took part in the attack.
In another incident, German authorities attacked the lender in late April in an investigation related to suspected money laundering.
The lender has been at the center of a series of scandals in recent years, ranging from close ties to Donald Trump and tax evasion to money laundering of $ 10 billion and violations of sanctions. international.
He has been fined more than $ 18 billion since 2000.