Kirch Settlement: Deutsche Bank's Ongoing Legal Woes

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/deutsche-bank-reaches-deal-in-kirch-case-but-faces-further-troubles-a-955390.html



The late Leo Kirch (l) brought a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank's former CEO Rolf Breuer (r) and Deutsche Bank over comments made by Breuer in 2002 about the creditworthiness of Kirch's media group.

Kirch Settlement: Deutsche Bank's Ongoing Legal Woes
By Dinah Deckstein and Martin Hesse
February 26, 2014 – 02:29 PM

An opera premiere is always a social occasion, including in Munich. A new production of Mozart's "La clemenza di Tito" at the State Opera on February 10 was attended by a host of industry leaders, from Linde CEO Wolfgang Reitzle and his wife to Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler, co-owner of the Schaeffler Group, and her partner. Also present were two other top managers, who appeared less interested in what was happening on-stage than in shop-talk: one was Paul Achleitner, head of Deutsche Bank's supervisory board, and the other was Peter Löscher, former CEO of Siemens.

They shared a secret -- they both likely already knew a bit of news that would only become public 10 days later: Deutsche Bank had unexpectedly reached an agreement with the Kirch Group, ending a legal battle that had lasted more than a decade. Achleitner was one of the main driving forces behind the deal, while Löscher sits on the supervisory board, which was informed last Wednesday of the €900 million settlement.

The bank was brought to its knees by pressure from public prosecutors, who are also investigating co-CEO Jürgen Fitschen and four other former management board members for attempted fraud in connection with the Kirch case.

But no one is exactly relieved. The resolution of this landmark dispute is too ignominious an outcome for the mighty bank. It was humiliated by Kirch's lawyers and the court. The public will remember this settlement as an admission that Deutsche Bank and its then head Rolf Breuer, who in early 2002 cast aspersions in a TV interview on Kirch's creditworthiness, did indeed have a hand in the collapse of the media concern.