Germany: searches at Deutsche Bank in a “greenwashing” case

The headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2020. AP - Michael Probst

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

By “greenwashing”, understand the fact of offering a product as sustainable and respectful of the environment, when the reality is not so positive.

This is the suspicion that weighs on Deutsche Bank and one of its subsidiaries, DWS, where searches took place on Tuesday, August 31 in Frankfurt.

The two companies are criticized for promoting financial products that are not so green.

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With our correspondent in Berlin,

Pascal Thibaut

The last police raid at the headquarters of Deutsche Bank dates back to a month ago.

On Tuesday, it was no longer about dirty money, but about financial products suspected of being too clean on them.

The bank and its asset management subsidiary DWS are being criticized for having offered investments to their clients that meet ESG criteria, i.e. respectful of the environment, social standards and sound governance. .

A commitment that Deutsche Bank highlights.

But a former sustainable development manager at DWS had accused her ex-employer of embellishing things and offering products that did not necessarily fulfill the benefits advertised to customers.

A European regulation last year reinforced transparency on financial products promoting ESG criteria.

German justice will have to say where the border passes between offensive marketing and fraudulent deception on the products offered.

►Read again: Germany: search by Deutsche Bank in a money laundering investigation

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