DWS Investment Management Americas, a Deutsche Bank subsidiary, agreed to pay a fine of $25m after allegations of greenwashing and anti-money laundering slipups by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the financial watchdog, DWS did not devise a mutual fund anti-money laundering scheme and also missed the mark with its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment processes.
Deutsche Bank subsidiary forks out $25m for SEC charges
The company will pay a staggering $19m for its ESG misstatements and another $6m for the anti-mutual fund violation. After investigation, the SEC found that DWS issued deceptive statements about how it employs ESG factors when doing research and making recommendations. In view of the charges, the company did not follow sound policies and procedures to ensure the accuracy of its ESG-based offerings.
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Allegedly, it also neglected to ensure that its mutual funds implement the necessary measures to prevent money laundering. Financial service providers are required by law to institute such measures. DWS did not offer comment to confirm or deny the charges. Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC Division of Enforcement, said:
The SEC’s order finds that DWS advised mutual funds with billions of dollars in assets yet failed to ensure that the funds had an AML program tailored to their specific risks, as required by law. Importantly, those AML obligations require mutual funds to establish and implement individualized programs to detect and prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. I congratulate the Asset Management Unit for bringing this important mutual fund AML enforcement action.
