Oh those mean Americans! Making life difficult for Josef Ackermann, CEO of Deutsche Bank; suing the bank for massive mortgage fraud and for throwing residents of Los Angeles out of their homes and onto the street. And to make matters worse, representatives of Common Cause in Milwaukee showed up at the annual shareholders' meeting in Frankfurt to read a statement accusing Deutsche Bank of ruining entire sections of that city through its reckless foreclosure practices (read the statement here - pfd warning). Ackermann was then forced to hear the damning criticism from the Union of Critical Sharholders ( Dachverband der kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre) concerning the bank's activities in tne US:
„Mit ihren Geschäftspraktiken hat sie ihre Kunden betrogen, Gemeinden zerstört und den amerikanischen Steuerzahler belastet“, heißt es in dem Gegenantrag. Dies zeigten die zahlreichen Gerichtsverfahren. Die "Ablehnung von Verantwortung" der Bank nach der Finanzkrise habe deshalb zu einem "beträchtlichen Reputationsschaden" geführt.
("In its business practices the bank deceived its customers, destroyed communities and hurt the American taxpayers", the group said in its counter-motion. This is evidenced by the numerous court actions. The bank's refusal to take responsibility" for its role in the financial crisis has "significantly damaged it reputation.")
But Ackermann would have none of it. The Americans were all wrong, suing the wrong people, the bank is blameless and would never do anything to hurt its reputation:
"Ich selbst betone seit Jahren, dass kein Geschäft es wert ist, den guten Ruf der Deutschen Bank aufs Spiel zu setzen."
("I've been saying for years that no business is worth jeopardizing the good name of Deutsche Bank,")
And so it is fitting that Josef Ackermann's name has been floated as a possible successor to the disgraced former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn. For while Ackermann, unlike DSK, has never been accused of sexually assaulting women, he has always been contemptuous of their aspirations in business, viewing women at best as "colorful" appendages to the men on the executive boards.
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