"The bank’s shareholders and its rank-and-file employees who are now losing their jobs in droves are the primary victims."
Last year, Deutsche Bank paid a $55 million settlement to US Securities and Exchange Commission relating to failures in its internal accounting controls and the improper valuation of a derivatives portfolio.
In a Financial Times column, whistleblower Eric Ben-Artzi said that the fine punished shareholders, while the Bank's "revolving door" of executives allowed them to escape culpability and retain their multi-million dollar bonuses.
Ben-Artzi said: “This goes beyond the typical revolving-door story. In this case, top SEC lawyers had held senior posts at the bank, moving in and out of top positions at the SEC even as the investigations into malfeasance at Deutsche Bank were ongoing.”
He expressed his disappointment that "after a lengthy investigation helped by multiple whistleblowers, the SEC imposed a fine on Deutsche’s shareholders instead of the managers responsible."
Ben-Artzi added: "We must protect shareholders from executive wrongdoing. Deutsche did not commit this wrongdoing. Deutsche was the victim. To be precise, the bank’s shareholders and its rank-and-file employees who are now losing their jobs in droves are the primary victims."
