The greenwashing affair at the fund company DWS will probably have consequences for another top manager of the Deutsche Bank group. After DWS boss Asoka Wöhrmann, Karl von Rohr, the deputy CEO of the money house, may also be affected. Company insiders confirmed a report by Manager Magazin, after which his contract, which expires in autumn 2023, will apparently not be extended. In the supervisory board, dissatisfaction is growing above all about how von Rohr handled the DWS greenwashing affair, according to those close to the supervisory body. The money house had presented itself as more sustainable than it is.
Von Rohr has not only been a member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Bank since November 2015 and is currently responsible for private customer business. In April 2018, the 57-year-old was even promoted to deputy CEO; In 2019 he also took over the position of head of the supervisory board of the important subsidiary DWS. He was long considered a confidant of CEO Christian Sewing and an important face of the bank to the outside world.
Karl von Rohr has been Vice CEO of Deutsche Bank since spring 2018 and is currently responsible for private customer business.
(Photo: Arne Dedert/dpa)
In May, the greenwashing affair cost DWS CEO Wöhrmann his office. The trigger was a raid by the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office, which had searched the fund company on suspicion of prospectus and capital investment fraud – so it’s about the allegation that DWS could have given false information in the prospectuses for equity funds, which DWS rejects. Desirée Fixler, the former head of sustainability at the fund company, started the matter. At the beginning of 2021, she initially complained internally that DWS was selling itself as more sustainable than it was. Shortly thereafter, however, Wöhrmann not only resigned from the American. DWS also launched an internal memo to the media by implying that it lacked “traction”. She saw her reputation destroyed and turned to that in the summer of 2021 Wall Street Journal with their criticism. As a result, several US authorities and the German financial supervisory authority began investigations. DWS lost around one billion euros in value on the stock exchange.
The investigations continue, but the reputation is damaged. Just a few days ago demonstrated the environmental organization Greenpeace at the DWS headquarters in Frankfurt. Of the Bloomberg news agency According to Stefan Hoops, the new DWS boss, is even considering changing the brand name.
A spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank said it would not comment on executive board contract extensions. Von Rohr’s contract runs until November 2023. “It is common practice at Deutsche Bank that the supervisory board only decides about an extension about six months before it expires.” In other words: It is currently too early, the question does not arise.
First important decision of the new head of the supervisory board
Criticism of Karl von Rohr is said to have been sparked, among other things, by the early extension of Asoka Wöhrmann’s contract in spring 2021. Although the greenwashing allegations were already known internally at the time, the DWS Supervisory Board extended his contract prematurely until 2024. At that time it was said that the extension of the successful manager could not be delayed any longer. However, since Wöhrmann formally “voluntarily” resigned in May 2022 after the raid, he will continue to collect his salary – as of now – until the end of the contract, in total almost 14 million euros. So far, Deutsche Bank has apparently not been able to prove any misconduct that would allow him to be dismissed.
The new chairman of the supervisory board, Alexander Wynaendts, who has been in charge of the bank’s fortunes since May, must now decide on Karl von Rohr’s contract. According to reports, he has long been critical of Rohr’s role and therefore does not think much of a contract extension. With the decision, the Dutchman could also set himself apart from the management style of his predecessor Paul Achleitner, under whose aegis misconduct in the management floor rarely had serious consequences. In late 2015, for example, Achleitner promoted investment banking chief Garth Ritchie to the board despite an ongoing internal investigation into money laundering involving Russian clients, which also happened in his area of responsibility.