ESG Topic - "German Police Raid Deutsche Bank, DWS Over Allegations Of Greenwashing" - ZeroHedge Bloomberg and others

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

German Police Raid Deutsche Bank, DWS Over Allegations Of Greenwashing

by Tyler Durden

Tuesday, May 31, 2022 - 09:34 AM

German federal police raided Deutsche Bank AG and its asset management arm, DWS Group, in Frankfurt, Germany. DWS has faced accusations of greenwashing ever since the firm's former head of sustainability said it overstated how much capital was allocated to sustainable investing last August. 

Bloomberg reports the Tuesday morning raid on Germany's largest lender and DWS is directly related to greenwashing, though precisely what federal police are investigating and who the probe is focused around is unknown. 

DWS' former chief sustainability officer, Desiree Fixler, went public last year about how the firm exaggerated its use of sustainable investing criteria to manage its assets. DWS has since denied the claims, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and German financial regulator, BaFin, have been investigating the asset management arm. 

DWS shares fell as much as 4.6% on the news. Deutsche Bank owns an 80% stake, and its shares slumped a little more than 2%. 

 

Fixler has said DWS misrepresented its ESG investing in its 2020 annual report, in which it claimed to have over half of its $900bln assets invested in ESG. 

The Frankfurt public prosecutors' office said the investigation had been "triggered by reports in the international and national media that the asset manager DWS, when marketing so-called 'green financial products' had sold these financial products as 'greener' or 'more sustainable' than they actually were."

"After examination, sufficient factual evidence has emerged that, contrary to the statements made in the sales prospectuses of DWS funds, ESG factors . . . were not taken into account at all in a large number of investments," the prosecutors' office said, calling this "prospectus fraud".

Since Fixler left the firm and publicly voiced concern about DWS' ESG investing, DWS changed its ESG criteria and said it only had $123 billion "ESG assets" for 2021, a 75% decline from a year earlier when it said half of its assets were "ESG integrated."

The latest raid comes one month after the Deutsche Bank was raided in Frankfurt over suspected money laundering -- certainly not a good look for the bank. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/german-police-raid-deutsche-bank-dws-over-allegations-greenwashing

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

QUOTE:  Assets tied to environmental, social and governance issues are expected to surge to more than $50 trillion by 2025, or about a third of global assets under management, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

https://archive.ph/51BRs

Deutsche Bank Replaces DWS’s Woehrmann After Greenwash Raid

Steven Arons, Sheryl Tian Tong Lee and Ambereen Choudhury

Wed, June 1, 2022, 6:06 AM·4 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG’s embattled DWS Group Chief Executive Officer Asoka Woehrmann resigned hours after a police raid at the asset manager, the culmination of months of controversy surrounding the executive.

Stefan Hoops, head of the German lender’s corporate bank, will assume the top role at DWS from June 10, according to a statement Wednesday. His previous role will be taken by David Lynne, who leads the corporate bank for Asia-Pacific based in Singapore.

The departure of one of Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing’s former close allies underscores the rising pressure since former DWS chief sustainability officer Desiree Fixler’s allegations that the company inflated its ESG credentials. The raids add to a growing list of regulatory and legal headaches for Sewing after law officials swooped into both firms in Frankfurt on Tuesday.

DWS shares fell as much as 8% in Frankfurt on Wednesday, adding to a 5.7% drop the previous day. The stock was down 7.3% at 31 euros ($33) as of 1:05 p.m. local time.

“The allegations made against DWS and me over the past months, including personal attacks and threats, however unfounded or undefendable, have left a mark,” Woehrmann wrote in a farewell message to staff seen by Bloomberg. “They have been a burden for the firm, as well as for me and, most significantly, for those closest to me. So it is with an extremely heavy heart that I have agreed with the firm to resign.”

The greenwashing probes also underscore the growing scrutiny of money managers and their sustainability claims as demand for ESG investments soars. Assets tied to environmental, social and governance issues are expected to surge to more than $50 trillion by 2025, or about a third of global assets under management, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

“Asset managers, especially those operating in markets such as Europe and the US, need to make sure they can support their ESG claims given regulators’ scrutiny of greenwashing,” said Mak Yuen Teen, a professor at the National University of Singapore who researches corporate governance.

For Woehrmann, the raid was another blow after he faced scrutiny over his use of personal email for business purposes and the role his relationship with a German businessman played in deals.

While the negative news flow around DWS in recent months had annoyed the bank’s top brass, Bloomberg has reported, Sewing had stood by Woehrmann. Earlier this year he said that the executive had “done an outstanding job” and in Wednesday’s statement thanked him for his “impressive work and performance.”

He took over the DWS job in 2018, soon after the asset manager’s poorly-received initial public offering. Investors had yanked billions of euros from its funds and Sewing asked Woehrmann to turn the asset manager around after he’d impressed him running the bank’s German retail operations. He managed to stem the outflows and morale improved.

Woehrmann also slashed costs at the asset manager while boosting revenue. The firm last year achieved the highest pretax profit since before its listing four years ago.

Like Woehrmann before him, Hoops is close to Sewing and he has spent his entire career at Deutsche Bank, most of it in the trading unit before Sewing tapped him in 2019 to turn around the flagging transaction banking business.

The business was supposed to be a centerpiece of the overhaul but has seen results outshone by those at the investment bank. The unit has faced strong interest-rate headwinds, though Hoops’ relentless focus on introducing deposit charges for clients has recently contributed to two consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth.

Growing Chorus

The ESG industry has recently faced attacks from a growing chorus of detractors. Jim Whittington, head of responsible investment at Dimensional Fund Advisors, said the sustainability trend is struggling both in terms of real-world impact and returns. HSBC Holdings Plc’s asset management unit recently suspended its head of responsible investment after he questioned the sense of focusing on climate change.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission floated tighter rules last week to ensure a product’s name is squarely focused on its actual strategy, with most observers fixating on what the restrictions mean for socially responsible investing. The proposals could hit thousands more funds trading everything from value and growth stocks to bonds and emerging markets.

Misleading Claims

Fixler has said that DWS’s claims that hundreds of billions of its assets under management were “ESG integrated” were misleading because the label didn’t translate into meaningful action by relevant fund managers. DWS has since stopped using the label.

Woehrmann fired former sustainability officer Fixler in March last year, saying in a memo to staff that her unit hadn’t made enough progress. She sued for unfair dismissal but lost the case before a Frankfurt labor court in January.

Still, ESG assets have continued to pour into the bank. DWS funds saw record net inflows of 48 billion euros ($51 billion) in 2021, with ESG products accounting for 40% of the total, according to a press release.

(Updates with shares in fourth paragraph, timeline lower)

Edited June 2, 2022 by Tom Nolan

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

https://archive.ph/edc4S

Deutsche Bank, DWS Raided Over Allegations of Greenwashing

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG and its asset management unit had their Frankfurt offices raided by police, adding to the legal headaches facing Germany’s largest lender.

Law enforcement officials on Tuesday morning entered the twin towers where Germany’s largest lender is headquartered, as well as the nearby premises of DWS Group, according to a statement from the prosecutor that confirmed an earlier Bloomberg report. The search is related to accusations of greenwashing against the asset manager.

 

“We have continuously cooperated fully with all relevant regulators and authorities on this matter and will continue to do so,” said a spokesman for DWS. Deutsche Bank said that the “measures” are “directed against unknown people in connection with greenwashing allegations against DWS.”

DWS has faced regulatory probes in the US and Germany after its former chief sustainability officer, Desiree Fixler, alleged last year that the company inflated its ESG credentials. As well as adding to the list of regulatory and legal issues for Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing, the raid is a high-profile early example of lenders facing legal consequences for greenwashing.

DWS shares fell more than 5% on the news and Deutsche Bank declined as much as 2.6%. While DWS is publicly listed, Deutsche Bank owns an almost 80% stake.

Fixler has said that DWS’s claims that hundreds of billions of its assets under management were “ESG integrated” were misleading because the label didn’t translate into meaningful action by relevant fund managers. DWS has since stopped using the label.

The Frankfurt prosecutor said it started its investigation in January, triggered by reports on Fixler’s claims. It since found sufficient indications that “contrary to the statements in the sales prospectuses of DWS funds, ESG factors actually only played a role in a minority of investments.”

The raid involved about 50 people including staff from watchdog BaFin, one person said. It’s targeting as-yet-unidentified DWS staff and executives.

DWS CEO Asoka Woehrmann fired Fixler in March last year, saying in a memo to staff that her unit hadn’t made enough progress. She sued for unfair dismissal but lost the case before a Frankfurt labor court in January.

“German police are doing are very good and thorough job,” Fixler said by phone. “I am pleased to see this investigation is deepening to obtain further evidence.”

Deutsche Bank’s top echelon has been drawn into the greenwashing affair as well. Regulators probing the issue have asked the lender about the role of deputy CEO Karl von Rohr, who is also the chairman of DWS’s supervisory board. He was the main recipient of Fixler’s email when she first flagged her ESG concerns to DWS shortly after she was fired. Von Rohr helped arrange an external audit into her claims that cleared DWS, people familiar with the matter have said.

For Woehrmann, the raid is another blow after he faced scrutiny over his use of personal email for business purposes and the role his relationship with a German businessman played in deals. Sewing has backed Woehrmann so far, not least because DWS has been performing well under him. But the negative news flow has frustrated the lender’s leadership, Bloomberg has reported.

The latest raid comes about a month after Deutsche Bank’s headquarters were searched over suspicions that it was too late in reporting potential money laundering. While Sewing has long sought to shake off Deutsche Bank’s past of heavy fines and mend relationships with regulators, a number of new issues have popped up since he took office four years ago.

The bank recently was found in breach of a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, and it received a scathing letter from the U.S. Federal Reserve over deficient controls last year. BaFin has initiated a probe of Deutsche Bank over private communications and the lender is facing a similar investigation in the US, Bloomberg has reported.

(Updates with Fixler statement in 10th paragraph.)

 

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

ESG Funds Post Largest Monthly Outflow On Record As The "Greenwashing" Racket Starts To Unravel

by Tyler Durden

Thursday, Jun 02, 2022 - 06:00 AM

After years of being critical of "ESG" investing and how appending the label to literally any company immediately caused a misallocation of capital in its direction, it looks like the buzzword investing scam is starting to unravel in real time. 

First, the Securities and Exchange Commission said this month that it was planning on cracking down on misleading ESG claims. New rules "would specify disclosures to be made by investment funds when they mention terms like 'ESG', 'low-carbon', or 'sustainable' in their names," Bloomberg reported last week. 

Regulators are also looking at "ESG funds marketing and how environmental, social and governance is incorporated into investing along with these funds voting at companies’ annual meetings," the report says.

 

It was then reported on Wednesday that ESG equity funds had their worst month of outflows on record.

Recall, we first noted back in September 2021 that the SEC was on the case looking at companies that claimed to be ESG. 

As the pace of growth in terms of assets dedicated to "ESG" funds started to accelerate, we also started to notice that the assets being stuffed into these ESG funds didn't really look all that different from a typical equity fund. Just take a look at a list of the most popular holdings from 2020:

Now, take a look at the top holdings for ESGG, one of the top ESG-focused ETFs.

Stocked with blue-chips, these funds don't exactly scream environmentally friendly and socially responsible. One industry insider confirmed as much when he shared a new term: "green washing".

Since then, we have run at least a half dozen reports about abuses in the ESG space:

• The Fraud That Is ESG Strikes Again: Six Of Top 10 ESG Funds Underperform The S&P500
• Behold The "Green" Scam: Here Are The Most Popular ESG Fund Holdings
• Nation's Largest ESG Fund Has No Direct Renewable Holdings
• Top Carbon-Credit-Seller Launches Internal Probe After Selling "Worthless" Offsets To JPMorgan, Disney
• The ESG Threat
• ESG Investing – The Great Wall Street Money Heist
• The Gigantic Holes In Anti-Oil ESG Activism
• More ESG Fraud: BofA Finds That Tech Is One Of The Dirtiest Industries

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/esg-funds-post-largest-monthly-outflow-record-greenwashing-racket-starts-unravel

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

A Global ESG System Is Almost Here: We Should Be Worried

by Tyler Durden

Wednesday, Jun 01, 2022 - 01:00 AM

Commentary by Jack McPherrin via The Epoch Times,

Day two of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, started off on a concerning note.

A sign of the World Economic Forum is seen in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 20, 2017. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

 

Some of the chief architects of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores met during a session called “Global ESG for Global Resilience,” and have clearly decided to double down on their objective for a new global economic order that transcends national borders and replaces free-market capitalism.

Destroying free-market capitalism in favor of a new “stakeholder” model, in which global elites hold all the power, has been their objective for years. A single ESG system gets them much closer to this goal, and will be significantly more effective at eroding national sovereignty, circumventing democratic processes, coercing companies into compliance, and ultimately restricting individual choice.

Early in the session, Hong Kong Stock Exchange Chairman Laura Cha got right to the point. She revealed, “In order for the [ESG] disclosures to be meaningful, we need to have a harmonized standard. … It would be very good in terms of the work that the ISSB [International Sustainability Standards Board] is doing to bring about some standardized global measures.”

The ISSB is a new standard-setting board developed for the sole purpose of institutionalizing this global framework.

ISSB Chairman Emmanuel Faber confirmed that these efforts have begun: “We just a week ago … we convened the first-ever working group of jurisdictions on sustainability standard alignment …. And there was China, Japan, [the] UK, [the] U.S., and [the] EU. … And that is just the start.”

He had earlier stated, “We can’t stay at the taxonomy levels of any jurisdiction. Because they are linked to a certain political consensus and they might be changing tomorrow. So, if you look at the long-term, you need to go deeper than the taxonomies.”

Reading between the lines, Faber seems to be saying that he intends to institutionalize a top-down system that will infiltrate all national borders and be impervious to political decision-making, which would render the idea of democracy impotent.

Much of the remainder of the conversation was an illuminating look at the ways in which elites will threaten and coerce the world into compliance.

Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan didn’t waste any time, immediately threatening companies to get in line. When asked if he believed that the war in Ukraine and COVID-19 have set efforts to expand ESG back, he responded, “No. … The reality is that operating companies have made commitments, along multiple dimensions …  you can’t just say, ‘Oh, it’s inconvenient right now.’”

He added: “I don’t see there’s a way you can walk away from it, because your customers won’t let you, your employees won’t let you, and your shareholders shouldn’t, won’t let you. And, by the way, society won’t let you.”

Gee, Brian, it really doesn’t sound like these companies are doing this based upon free will.

Moynihan also committed to using the economic clout of his entire organization, including the funds of his individual account holders, saying, “200,000 people, a three trillion-dollar balance sheet, 60 billion in expenses; you start aiming that gun, and you take that across all these companies, it is huge …. [The companies] delivering on the metrics will get more capital, the ones that won’t will get less.”

He even discussed his implementation of a training regimen for each of his lending officers, educating them on how to talk to their clients about the benefits of ESG-resilient companies.

Moynihan went on to discuss how Bank of America and other organizations will make purchasing decisions related to their supply chains that will be based on their net-zero commitments, all of which will trickle down to businesses and consumers.

He warned customers to get on board: “What we’re trying to do is educate those customers. The idea is: We’re going to stick with you, but you have to start to think about this. … We’ve got to get the rest of the world ready to go. … Don’t think this is other people’s problems. This could become your problem.”

Brian, you’re manufacturing the “problem,” just like you’re manufacturing “consent.”

Unilever CEO Alan Jope echoed similar commitments to shutting off supply valves for the rest of the world in favor of his objectives, which, by the way, won’t help solve our current supply chain issues and the related inflationary crisis.

He preached, “We’ve pledged to only do business with suppliers who are, for example, paying their people properly a fair living wage … who have made net-zero commitments, so we can take our impact into the entire universe of people who work with our company.”

In one of the most concerning statements of the morning, Jope declared that for this system to work, “It has to go from government and regulators, into the capitalist system, big companies, small and medium-sized entities; but actually, the ultimate democratization, the ultimate way of moving markets is when the consumer is voting with her wallet.”

First, the growing alliance between big government and big business—with a little help from the media—carries substantial fascist overtones.

Second, the consumer you reference doesn’t have a free choice, Alan. What you hope to do is akin to taking a popular candidate off an electoral ballot—like they do in electoral autocracies such as Russia—and forcing people to choose between limited options that are unlikely to be their preference.

There’s a reason a natural market exists for these goods; there’s consumer demand, which is in turn fulfilled by producers. These people are trying to both fundamentally alter demand by changing consumer preferences, while fundamentally altering supply by destroying producers who don’t join their team.

Faber frames these efforts as “We are not going to say what’s good or what’s bad. We are just providing the information for people to make decisions.”

Simply put, that is a lie.

As has clearly been stated by members of this WEF panel, what these elites are actually doing is steering investment away from companies that don’t align with their vision for the world, and severing relationships with companies—causing a trickle-down reduction in choice for the rest of the market—that don’t get on board.

This isn’t about information; it’s about control, and power.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/global-esg-system-almost-here-we-should-be-worried

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

 

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

 

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

The following is extremely insightful and emphatically relates to these Technocratic times of the "Climate Change narrative" and ESG, and how people become hypnotized by a societal narrative.  Miss it, and you will miss out.

Breaking Free From Mass Formation with Mattias Desmet

(just over one hour - VIDEO interview )

https://odysee.com/@corbettreport:0/desmet-massformation:f

https://www.corbettreport.com/desmet-massformation/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Mattias Desmet is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Ghent University in Belgium. His theory of mass formation during the coronavirus crisis has become widely known and widely misunderstood since gaining mainstream attention. His new book, The Psychology of Totalitarianism, lays out what mass formation is, how it develops, how it leads to totalitarianism, and what we must do to change the conditions that makes these mass formation events possible.

Watch On Archive / BitChute  / Odysee / Download the mp4

SHOW NOTES:
The Psychology of Totalitarianism by Mattias Desmet

PM launches Government’s first loneliness strategy

Surgeon general: Americans must address loneliness epidemic

How Long Is the Coast of Britain? (Mandelbrot)

The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt

The Crowd: A Study Of The Popular Mind by Gustav Le Bon

[markslawson + 1,058]

8 hours ago, Tom Nolan said:

he following is extremely insightful and emphatically relates to these Technocratic times of the "Climate Change narrative" and ESG, and how people become hypnotized by a societal narrative. 

Sadly society can be hypnotised by a narrative to the point where rational discussion is impossible. It happened with Y2K, and it has happened again to a far greater extent with global warming/renewable energy. Daring to point out, for example, that the present high gas prices is in part due to decades of green lobbying against development of gas reserves, is asking for trouble. Best not to say anything..    

[Eyes Wide Open + 3,555]

18 minutes ago, markslawson said:

Sadly society can be hypnotised by a narrative to the point where rational discussion is impossible. It happened with Y2K, and it has happened again to a far greater extent with global warming/renewable energy. Daring to point out, for example, that the present high gas prices is in part due to decades of green lobbying against development of gas reserves, is asking for trouble. Best not to say anything..    

Summarized in one word. Schizophrenia

 

[Ron Wagner + 710]

The actual term is suggestability. Those with high suggestability are influenced by the propaganda they are fed. They hypnotic messages are delivered by overwhelming media input. In other words "brainwashing" Once they are convinced that mainstream media is the only reliable source of truth then they are little better than zombies. They are immune from thinking for themselves and from using logic. They do not trust anyone but the so called "experts" on any given subject. These experts (ex. Fauci) can spout lie after lie and contradict themselves over and over. They are the "experts" so nothing from other experts can disagree with those presented by the mainstream media. 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Ron Wagner

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Here is some Climate Change Propaganda Bullshit ...

Study Reveals Alarming Lack Of Climate Change Research In Central Asia

By Eurasianet - Jun 02, 2022, 12:00 PM CDT

• Central Asia is particularly vulnerable to climate change.
• A new study has found that there is an alarming lack of research on climate change in Central Asia.
• “Limited knowledge about climate change impacts and consequences may result in greater than necessary human, environmental, and economic costs,” the study stated.

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Study-Reveals-Alarming-Lack-Of-Climate-Change-Research-In-Central-Asia.html

[RichieRich216 + 454]

Ah yes, the corruption continues!

[Eyes Wide Open + 3,555]

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/06/trump-loves-coal-hates-climate-action-but-investors-are-fighting-back.html

This love-hate split has motivated investors – and eco-focused ESG investment funds — seeking to save the planet from Trump's policies. (Note: ESG stands for "environmental, social and governance.")

In fact, $12 trillion — or $1 in every $4 of assets professionally managed in the U.S. — is invested in portfolios seeking to be sustainable, responsible and impactful. This is up 38 percent since 2016 and up 18 times since 1995, and it includes more than 180 mutual funds and dozens of exchange-traded funds, according to the US SIF Foundation, the socially responsible investing industry trade association.

[TailingsPond + 1,008]

20 hours ago, Ron Wagner said:

The actual term is suggestability. Those with high suggestability are influenced by the propaganda they are fed.

Like the cult that believes every conspiracy theory out there...

Suckers!  You and Tom are perfect examples.... keep listening to Tyler Durden... a fictional character.

0R0 was even more lost.

Edited June 3, 2022 by TailingsPond

[Boat + 1,324]

On 6/2/2022 at 10:12 AM, Tom Nolan said:

German Police Raid Deutsche Bank, DWS Over Allegations Of Greenwashing

by Tyler Durden

Tuesday, May 31, 2022 - 09:34 AM

German federal police raided Deutsche Bank AG and its asset management arm, DWS Group, in Frankfurt, Germany. DWS has faced accusations of greenwashing ever since the firm's former head of sustainability said it overstated how much capital was allocated to sustainable investing last August. 

Bloomberg reports the Tuesday morning raid on Germany's largest lender and DWS is directly related to greenwashing, though precisely what federal police are investigating and who the probe is focused around is unknown. 

DWS' former chief sustainability officer, Desiree Fixler, went public last year about how the firm exaggerated its use of sustainable investing criteria to manage its assets. DWS has since denied the claims, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and German financial regulator, BaFin, have been investigating the asset management arm. 

DWS shares fell as much as 4.6% on the news. Deutsche Bank owns an 80% stake, and its shares slumped a little more than 2%. 

 

Fixler has said DWS misrepresented its ESG investing in its 2020 annual report, in which it claimed to have over half of its $900bln assets invested in ESG. 

The Frankfurt public prosecutors' office said the investigation had been "triggered by reports in the international and national media that the asset manager DWS, when marketing so-called 'green financial products' had sold these financial products as 'greener' or 'more sustainable' than they actually were."

"After examination, sufficient factual evidence has emerged that, contrary to the statements made in the sales prospectuses of DWS funds, ESG factors . . . were not taken into account at all in a large number of investments," the prosecutors' office said, calling this "prospectus fraud".

Since Fixler left the firm and publicly voiced concern about DWS' ESG investing, DWS changed its ESG criteria and said it only had $123 billion "ESG assets" for 2021, a 75% decline from a year earlier when it said half of its assets were "ESG integrated."

The latest raid comes one month after the Deutsche Bank was raided in Frankfurt over suspected money laundering -- certainly not a good look for the bank. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/german-police-raid-deutsche-bank-dws-over-allegations-greenwashing

Germany was committed to Russian gas and Putin corruption until they attacked Ukraine. Cheating on car emissions, politicians running Russian companies, killing nuclear power plants and helping build a nat gas line they didn’t need highlights a trend away from being green. 

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Bloomberg - June 2nd - https://finance.yahoo.com/news/esg-market-canada-faces-greenwashing-120000812.html

ESG Market in Canada Faces Greenwashing Risks Due to Poor Data

(Bloomberg) -- The poor quality of sustainability-related data is making it harder for market experts in Canada to establish the real effect of investments labeled as green, according to a survey by the Institute for Sustainable Finance.

Just 6% of respondents, including asset managers, researchers and lenders were “very satisfied” with the availability of sustainability-related data that can be accessed via public and commercial sources. The survey of 84 professionals from public and private sector institutions including the nation’s largest banks went on to show 45% reported being “somewhat satisfied,” 44% “not very satisfied” and 5% “totally dissatisfied.”

“Missing values and incomplete information are indicated to be the top issues,” ISF researchers Ryan Riordan and Will Hamilton wrote in the report. “Investors seeking to make retirement investment decisions are unable to evaluate the financial impact a changing climate could have on their portfolio.”

The lack of consistent data collection for greenhouse-gas emission metrics presents obstacles to properly assess companies’ progress, some of which have already pledged to reach carbon neutrality. Access to information is, however, set to improve as regulators in North America ramp up efforts to address environmental risks and climate change.

Stepping Up

In Canada, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions last week issued a draft version of guidelines on climate risk management, which includes financial disclosures aligned with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. TCFD is chaired by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

Also the Canadian Securities Administrators, a group made up of provincial and territorial regulators, is working on a set of climate-related disclosures for issuers. Early this year they released a guidance for investment funds.

In the US, Securities and Exchange Commission last week released a plan to stamp out greenwashing in the financial industry, including requiring funds focused on environmental factors to report the carbon footprint and intensity of the companies they invest in. Alternatively, funds could avoid the obligation if they say emissions don’t play a role in their approaches to environmental, social and governance investing.

“A major reallocation of capital will be required to transition Canada to its goal of net zero carbon emissions,” the report said. “To make the decisions that will get us there, financial institutions, regulators, investors and other stakeholders will need quality information and data about corporate GHG emissions and climate risks.”

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

On 6/2/2022 at 10:12 AM, Tom Nolan said:

German Police Raid Deutsche Bank, DWS Over Allegations Of Greenwashing

by Tyler Durden

Tuesday, May 31, 2022 - 09:34 AM

German federal police raided Deutsche Bank AG and its asset management arm, DWS Group, in Frankfurt, Germany. DWS has faced accusations of greenwashing ever since the firm's former head of sustainability said it overstated how much capital was allocated to sustainable investing last August. 

Bloomberg reports the Tuesday morning raid on Germany's largest lender and DWS is directly related to greenwashing, though precisely what federal police are investigating and who the probe is focused around is unknown. 

DWS' former chief sustainability officer, Desiree Fixler, went public last year about how the firm exaggerated its use of sustainable investing criteria to manage its assets. DWS has since denied the claims, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and German financial regulator, BaFin, have been investigating the asset management arm. 

DWS shares fell as much as 4.6% on the news. Deutsche Bank owns an 80% stake, and its shares slumped a little more than 2%. 

 

Fixler has said DWS misrepresented its ESG investing in its 2020 annual report, in which it claimed to have over half of its $900bln assets invested in ESG. 

The Frankfurt public prosecutors' office said the investigation had been "triggered by reports in the international and national media that the asset manager DWS, when marketing so-called 'green financial products' had sold these financial products as 'greener' or 'more sustainable' than they actually were."

"After examination, sufficient factual evidence has emerged that, contrary to the statements made in the sales prospectuses of DWS funds, ESG factors . . . were not taken into account at all in a large number of investments," the prosecutors' office said, calling this "prospectus fraud".

Since Fixler left the firm and publicly voiced concern about DWS' ESG investing, DWS changed its ESG criteria and said it only had $123 billion "ESG assets" for 2021, a 75% decline from a year earlier when it said half of its assets were "ESG integrated."

The latest raid comes one month after the Deutsche Bank was raided in Frankfurt over suspected money laundering -- certainly not a good look for the bank. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/german-police-raid-deutsche-bank-dws-over-allegations-greenwashing

Regarding the Lede ESG story about Deutsche Bank.  I was aware of the backstory.  Here it is...

True Crime – Deutsche Bank Conspiracy

Thursday April 28, 2022 – NBC News via Yahoo
Reputed federal informant, whistleblower found dead in L.A. after he’s reported missing
https://archive.ph/x1DZK
[ – – – Slight changes in script between archive and original Yahoo]
https://www.yahoo.com/news/reputed-federal-informant-whistleblower-found-030844664.html

EXCERPTS
A reputed federal informant and whistleblower who went missing after he was reported to have turned over a trove of secret files about Deutsche Bank was found dead at a Los Angeles school this week, a police official said Wednesday.

The body of Valentin Broeksmit, 46, was found Monday at Woodrow Wilson High School shortly before 7 a.m., Sgt. Rudy Perez of the Los Angeles School Police Department said in an email.

Records of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner do not list a cause of death. Los Angeles Police Capt. Kenneth Cabrera told the Los Angeles Times that authorities do not suspect foul play.
[ – – – ]

Broeksmit was last seen driving a red Mini Cooper on the afternoon of April 6, 2021, on Riverside Drive and was later reported missing by relatives, Los Angeles police said.

His vehicle was found, the department said, but Broeksmit remained missing.

Perez said Wednesday that he appeared to be homeless.

According to a 2019 profile in The New York Times, Broeksmit was a musician and the son of a Deutsche Bank executive who died by suicide in 2014.

After his father’s death, Broeksmit gained access to his father’s email account and found hundreds of files related to the bank, including board meeting minutes, financial plans, spreadsheets and password-protected presentations, the newspaper reported…

…According to The Times, Broeksmit supplied the documents to journalists and others, including Fusion GPS, the research firm linked to an unverified dossier about Trump, and investigators with the FBI’s New York office.

After a meeting with FBI agents in Los Angeles, the agency permitted Broeksmit to publicly identify himself as a cooperating witness in a federal criminal investigation, the paper reported…

…David Enrich, the Times reporter who wrote the profile, said Tuesday on Twitter that Broeksmit was a central character in his 2020 book, “Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction,” and that news of his death was “terrible.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Related MOVIE… FREE to watch…

The International – 2009 action thriller film
(2 hours) via ClassicMoviesSeries at Odysee
https://odysee.com/@ClassicMoviesSeries:c/The.International.2009:a

Inspired by the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal of the 1980s, the film raises concerns about how global finance affects international politics across the world. Production began in Berlin in September 2008, including the construction of a life-size replica of New York’s Guggenheim Museum for the film’s central shootout scene. The film opened the 59th Berlin International Film Festival on 5 February 2009.
The film follows an Interpol agent and an American district attorney who jointly investigate corruption within the IBBC, a fictional merchant bank based in Luxembourg. It serves organized crime and corrupt governments as a banker and as an arms broker. The bank’s ruthless managers assassinate potential threats, including their own employees.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_International_(2009_film)

— The International (2009) – Plot Summary – IMDb –
(Lengthy article with details)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963178/plotsummary

~~~ During the very ending credits, one finds the answer to the top question.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the cylindrical building, wider at the top than at the bottom, was conceived as a “temple of the spirit”.
More about the design: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_R._Guggenheim_Museum

I gotta admit: the showdown at The Guggenheim was something else. It fits the bill of an “action” film overdose.
If you want to cut to The Guggenheim, start around 1:07:00 as the “good guys” tail a top-grade assassin. (It is interesting to note that Chase Bank and Citibank are in the background during the tail.)

Here are some excerpt QUOTES from this fine film...

The IBBC is a bank. Their objective isn’t to control the conflict…
it’s to control the debt that the conflict produces.
You see, the real value of a conflict, the true value is in the debt that it creates.
You control the debt you control everything. You find this upsetting, yes?
But this is the very essence of the banking industry.
To make us all, whether we be nations or individuals slaves to debt.

You need to remember there’s what people wanna hear,
wanna believe, there’s everything else, then there’s the truth.

And since when is that okay? I can’t believe you’re saying this to me.
The truth means responsibility, Arnie.

Exactly, which is why everyone dreads it.

Cassian, what does one do when there’s no way out of a situation?

If there’s no way out the best thing is to find a way further in.

The system guarantees the IBBC’s safety because everyone is involved.

What do you mean, “everyone”?

Hezbollah. CIA. The Columbian drug cartels.Russian organized crime.
Governments of Iran, Germany, China, your government.
Every multinational corporation, every one.
They all need banks like the IBBC so that they can operate
within the black and gray latitudes.
And this is why your investigative efforts have either been ignored
or undermined and why you and I will be quietly disposed of
before any case against the bank ever reaches a court of law.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

…and just like the Movie “The International”…

Saturday April 30th – Zero Hedge
Deutsche Bank Offices Raided By Police On Money Laundering Concerns
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/deutsche-bank-offices-searched-authorities-after-bank-reportedly-tips-money-laundering

EXCERPTS
It looks as though Chief Executive Christian Sewing could actually be making an attempt to clean things up at Deutsche Bank, after years of regulatory issues at the bank. In fact, Deutsche Bank headquarters is reportedly being searched at this moment as part of an ongoing money laundering case that it appears the bank tipped off regulators to.

The bank’s offices in Frankfurt are being searched by law enforcement authorities “after the lender flagged potential money laundering,” Bloomberg wrote on Friday morning.

The raid includes officials from the Frankfurt prosecutors office and Germany’s BKA federal police, the report continues. The searches are taking place following the decision by a Frankfurt court, the report says.
Additionally, representatives of financial regulator BaFin were also involved in the search, Reuters reported.

Deutsche Bank said in a statement that the search relates to “reports made by the bank of suspected money laundering” and the bank said it is “cooperation [sic] fully with authorities”. Reuters confirmed that the search was due to a tip from the bank, stating “the search involved suspicious transactions it had itself passed on to authorities”.

“Police officers are present in and around Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt headquarters”, Bloomberg confirmed Friday morning. However, one witness told Reuters “there was no sign of authorities outside the bank’s headquarters on Friday”…

…Meanwhile, Deutsche has been under the microscope for potential money laundering for years, facing nearly $700 million in fines for trades that authorities said were used to illegally launder money.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Now…this”

Wed May 4th
Morgan Stanley’s Frankfurt Offices Raided As Part Of Cum-Ex Tax Fraud Probe
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/morgan-stanleys-frankfurt-offices-raided-part-cum-ex-tax-fraud-probe

EXCERPTS
German regulators have been staying busy over the last few weeks.

Just days after we noted that Deutsche Bank offices in Frankfurt were being raided as part of a money laundering probe the bank reportedly tipped regulators off to, it now looks like Morgan Stanley is also dealing with a regulatory raid by German prosecutors.

The Morgan Stanley raid is related to the “rapidly widening” Cum-Ex scandal, which is centered on cross-border tax fraud.

“Authorities are searching a bank and the homes of two suspects in a probe over Cum-Ex and related strategies,” Bloomberg reported Tuesday morning, stating that more than 75 officers were on hand to take part in the raid.

The same report notes that Morgan Stanley confirmed that it had been targeted and said that the investigation relates to a “historic activity” and that the bank is “continuing to cooperate with the German authorities.”

The probe encompasses about 1,500 people from the financial industry and similar raids have been carried out at Barclay’s and Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. Deutsche Bank is also said to face “major repercussions”.

Cum-ex reportedly diverted “at least 10 billion euros” in government revenue by exploiting German tax laws that allowed multiple investors to claim refunds of a tax on dividends that was paid only once, Bloomberg reported.

The practice was abolished in 2012, but the probe continues.

[Ron Wagner + 710]

Corporations and banksters  have been running much of the world throughout history. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2022/05/12/the-worlds-largest-banks-2022-banks-face-challenging-economic-environment-but-could-benefit-from-fed-rate-hikes/?sh=9e0cea27e670

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_companies_by_revenue

 

China has become, by far, the largest fascist country in history. Fascism works well for the elites. (They call themselves communist, but that is in name only). Almost all nations are fascist to some degree right now!  America is always in danger of a fascist takeover by the "progressive" leftists. Europe is farther along than we are though. 

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/big-banker-brother-deutsche-bank-eavesdropping-employees-mandatory-surveillance-app

 

Big Banker Brother: Deutsche Bank Eavesdropping On Employees With Surveillance App

by Tyler Durden

Monday, Jun 20, 2022 - 04:45 AM

After a series of scandals - including 1MDB, fired managers who expensed strip club receipts or texted colleagues pictures of S&M sessions, and of course - the $150 million fine they paid "for significant compliance failures" in regards to Jeffrey Epstein - Deutsche Bank has now gone full Big Brother on its employees as government pressure to do so intensifies.

According to the Financial Times, Germany's largest lender has started requiring certain bankers to download and install mobile surveillance app Movius, which allows compliance staff to monitor calls, text messages and WhatsApp conversations, according to people familiar with the matter.

Movius has partnerships with various telecoms, such as Spring, Telstra, Telefónica and Blackberry, and was used by several financial institutions during the pandemic in order to monitor employees working from home, particularly those in heavily regulated roles such as trading.

DB has been installing the software on employees' work phones over the last several weeks, after several high-profile embarrassments involving DWS executives and WhatsApp.

A former executive of Deutsche’s asset management arm, DWS, has flagged the alleged extensive use of WhatsApp by outgoing chief executive Asoka Wöhrmann and other DWS executives in a whistleblower complaint to Germany’s financial watchdog BaFin, the Financial Times has reported.

The FT also reported this year that Deutsche chief executive Christian Sewing exchanged friendly WhatsApp messages with a German businessman who the bank had ditched as a client after a number of potentially suspicious payments. -FT

Though this isn't the first time Deutsche Bank has made headlines for surveilling employees, the German lender joins the likes of JPMorgan Chase, UBS, Julius Baer, Jeffries and Cantor Fitzgerald in the use of Movius in recent years - and comes as banks are expanding their use of monitoring software amid government crackdowns on banks' record-keeping practices and general compliance. Both the US Government and the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, as well as BaFin in Germany, have demanded that banks explain how they monitor their staffs' personal communications.

According to the Times, Deutsche was approached by BaFin earlier this year and asked to explain how staff use messaging apps. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the bank was testing out a new IT solution to improve how they monitor communications.

Credit Suisse, HSBC and JPMorgan have all had issues related to employee communications over the past few years. Credit Suisse fired one investment banker after using unapproved messaging apps to communicate with clients, while HSBC's compliance department carried out an investigation into the use of personal messaging earlier this year resulting in the dismissal of an unnamed FX trader over a broker buying him tickets to a sporting event.

JPMorgan, meanwhile, agreed to pay $200 million to the SEC and the CFTC over its failure to maintain records of staff communications on personal devices.