Deutsche Bank's DWS chief resigns after company raids for alleged 'greenwashing'

DWS Group, a German asset management company, confirmed on Wednesday, June 1, that its chief executive officer, Asoka Woehrmann, is stepping down from his post. The announcement of his departure comes a day after prosecutors carried out a raid for alleged greenwashing.

According to Reuters, the outgoing CEO of DWS is set to leave next week, and he will exit the company while it faces accusations that it has misled investors about "green" investments. As posted on Investopedia, greenwashing is an action of conveying a false impression or presenting misleading information on how a company's products are more eco-friendly.

The act is also considered an unconfirmed and unsupported claim designed to trick consumers into believing that a company's products are nature-friendly or green. With that explained, the reports stated that DWS had been bugged with greenwashing allegations for months, and this prompted the German prosecutors to raid DWS and Deutsche Bank's headquarters this week.

The Walls Street Journal reported that the Frankfurt public prosecutor's office sent out about 50 agents along with the German market regulator, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), for the raid and probe. The federal criminal police office was also deployed on Tuesday, according to the prosecutor's office's spokeswoman.

The authorities are also investigating reports that DWS exaggerated its green credentials of investments it sold. This has also been alleged by a whistleblower, but DWS has been firmly denying the claims.

"We have continuously co-operated fully with all relevant regulators and authorities on this matter and will continue to do so," the asset management firm said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the prosecutors said that "sufficient factual evidence has emerged," and they show that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors were considered in a minority of investments but not at all in a large number of investments. This discovery is said to be contradictory to statements in DWS fund sales prospectuses.

With Asoka Woehrmann's departure, his CEO role will be taken over by Stefan Hoops, who has been managing Deutsche Bank's corporate banking unit since 2019. The outgoing chief's resignation will take effect on June 9, and Hoops will start working in a new role from June 10.