By James Shotter
Financial Times, London
Thursday, April 28, 2016
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9256f338-0d82-...eb7e589515.html
Georg Thoma is to resign from Deutsche Bank's supervisory board after
coming under fire from other board members in a battle over how to deal with
the German bank's past scandals.
The veteran corporate lawyer was brought on to the board by chairman Paul
Achleitner in 2013 and headed the integrity committee, whose remit includes
overseeing the bank's efforts to comply with legal and regulatory
requirements.
However, Mr Thoma's approach left him at odds with some colleagues, and on
Sunday, Alfred Herling, Deutsche's vice-chairman, took the unusual step of
publicly criticising his actions in Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine
Sonntagszeitung.
Mr Herling accused Mr Thoma of "overzealousness," saying that he
"goes too far when he demands ever wider investigations and more and more
lawyers come marching up," and adding that the costs were "no
longer proportionate."
Meanwhile, Henning Kagermann, the former head of German software group SAP
who is also a board member at Deutsche, told the newspaper that "for all
the diligence that we have exercised, it is important for us that Deutsche
Bank finally ... devotes all its energy to looking to the future."
Deutsche said in a statement that Mr Thoma would resign immediately from
his role as chairman of the integrity committee and leave the supervisory
board after a one-month notice period. The bank has begun the search for a
permanent successor.
Mr Achleitner said Mr Thoma had given Deutsche "outstanding
service" during his time on the board. "He has implemented
processes of great importance and benefit to the bank. The supervisory board
is determined to continue its work of investigating possible misconduct and
to draw lessons for the future," he said.
Mr Thoma did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The boardroom spat comes just three weeks before Deutsche's annual
shareholder meeting on May 19, at which the bank's
supervisory board is likely to come under scrutiny.
One small shareholder has requested a special audit of whether members of
Deutsche's supervisory board or management board breached their obligations
in how they dealt with some of the bank's legal entanglements.
The motion requests that the audit ascertain whether there were management
failings in relation to a number of investigations, including the Libor
scandal.
Among other things, it requests an investigation into whether Deutsche had
to pay heavier fines because members of its management or supervisory board
obstructed, misled, or failed to co-operate sufficiently with authorities.
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