Police pulled up at the fund subsidiary DWS just as the parent company Deutsche Bank was unveiling its results for 2023. Allegations of greenwashing have surfaced yet again.
The German authorities conducted another search at the premises of fund company DWS on Thursday (yesterday), as German newspaper «Handelsblatt» notes. This is the second raid this year – the police already raided Deutsche Bank’s asset manager on January 16.
The reason for the «visit» was the ongoing investigation into alleged label fraud in products classified as sustainable by the fund company, i.e. greenwashing. Whistleblower Desiree Fixler got the investigation going in 2021.
Boss Forced to Resign
The first search took place in June 2022. Local prosecutors and the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) initially suspected investment fraud. Former DWS CEO Asoka Wöhrmann, who subsequently was forced to resign, was also investigated. DWS’ management has not ruled out the possibility of fines.
As «Handelsblatt» further points out, this has barely made a dent on sales of sustainable investments at DWS. The in-house funds, which take account of ESG criteria when investing, reported net inflows of 4.9 billion euros in 2023.
