German police raided the offices of DWS and its majority owner Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt as part of a probe into allegations of greenwashing. The raid involved public prosecutors from Frankfurt, federal police and officials from the German financial regulator BaFin, and the officers held meetings with staff.
So what?
The raiding of investor offices by police and prosecutors suggests that authorities are seriously considering the greenwashing allegations against investors. Similar actions have been observed elsewhere as well – HSBC earlier faced greenwashing allegations from UK advertising regulator ASA. How might stronger regulatory actions influence how companies communicate their environmental credentials? Will such regulatory pressure help to improve ESG criteria and assets being qualified as ESG assets?
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