Deutsche Bank Supervisory Board Faces Mounting Investor Pressure Ahead Of AGM
14 May 2012 - 7:11PM
Dow Jones News
Deutsche Bank AG's (DBK.XE) supervisory board is facing mounting
opposition ahead of May's annual general meeting as a shareholder
advisor Sunday said it recommends voting against approving the
board's performance in 2011, backing demands from two institutional
shareholders.
"Notably, we believe the supervisory board's actions in the past
year have not demonstrated thorough consideration of shareholders'
interests," Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC said in a statement
published Sunday.
Although ratifying the acts of the supervisory board is
primarily a vote of confidence in Germany, the discontent casts a
shadow on the performance of outgoing supervisory board head
Clemens Boersig and serves as a warning for his successor, Allianz
SE's (ALV.XE) outgoing Chief Financial Officer Paul Achleitner.
"... we believe it is important to send a strong signal to the
supervisory board that shareholders' interests must be considered
in important matters. We believe voting against the ratification of
supervisory board acts, as suggested by the proponents of these
shareholder countermotions, will send such a signal," Glass, Lewis
& Co. said.
Previously, U.K.-based institutional investor Hermes, which
represents 27 pension and investment funds holding about 0.5% of
the capital of Deutsche Bank, has said it will vote against
approving the performance of Deutsche Bank's supervisory board at
the AGM.
The Western-Germany based association of institutional
shareholders, or VIP Vereinigung Institutionelle Privatanleger
e.V., announced a similar move. Both investors in a recent letter
mainly criticized Boersig's approach to finding a successor for
outgoing Chief Executive Josef Ackermann, but also picked on the
bank's ongoing legal battles, suggesting it "may not have fulfilled
its Code of Business Conduct and Ethics," and the company's
response to shareholder concerns regarding the compensation policy,
Glass, Lewis & Co. said.
-By Eyk Henning, Dow Jones Newswires, eyk.henning@dowjones.com,
+49 69 29725 108