German regulator says Deutsche Bank CEO Anshu Jain misled Bundesbank

Frankfurt: Deutsche Bank's co-chief executive Anshu Jain may have "knowingly made inaccurate statements" to Germany's Bundesbank during investigations into manipulation of the inter-bank rate setting process, the Financial Times reported online, citing a confidential report from German regulator BaFin.

BaFin declined to comment.

Deutsche Bank told Reuters it disputed the allegation that Anshu Jain misled the Bundesbank.

Earlier this month, a source told Reuters that Germany's financial watchdog Bafin heavily criticised Deutsche Bank in its report investigating attempts to manipulate inter-bank interest rates such as Libor.

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The German regulator has been investigating Deutsche Bank and the role it played during the financial crisis when a global inter-bank lending rate mechanism was being manipulated.

BaFin recommends that Deutsche Bank should face "special banking supervisory measures" as a result, the Financial Times reported, quoting the BaFin report.

Jain, who resigned his position as CEO effective June 30, is accused of having "knowingly made inaccurate statements" in a 2012 interview with the German central bank, the Financial Times said.

Germany's central bank, which is known as the Bundesbank, could not be reached for comment.

Jain is alleged to have told the central bank he had no knowledge of rumours of possible rigging in 2008, but contemporaneous e-mails about a meeting on the subject were forwarded to him at the time, the Financial Times said.

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Deutsche Bank on Friday said, "The BaFin report confirms our findings that no present or former member of Deutsche Bank's Management Board or Group Executive Committee instructed employees to manipulate intra-bank offered rates (IBOR) submissions or was aware of any attempted manipulations prior to June 2011 when certain misconduct first came to light during the Bank's investigation of this matter."

In a statement, Deutsche Bank said, "Mr Jain disputes as baseless the allegation that he misled the Bundesbank in his 2012 interview. He understood Bundesbank’s question about when he first learned of rumours of possible IBOR rigging to mean rigging at Deutsche Bank itself which he learned of in 2011, not rigging in the marketplace which was publicly reported on in 2008."

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Deutsche further said that report also addresses concerns about control related issues, a number of which have since been rectified and others of which the bank was still working to improve.

"As we have not yet responded to the BaFin report as part of the regulatory process,  we believe it would be inappropriate to comment further publicly at this time," Deutsche Bank said.

From the report, the Financial Times quotes BaFin's lead banking supervisor who is quoted Frauke Menke, lead banking supervisory as saying, "I have been astonished to learn [...] that the suggestion is that the audit by BaFin supposedly resulted in clearing the senior management of DB, especially Mr Jain, and that supposedly no banking supervisory measures are expected," Menke was quoted as saying in the report.

"I expressly want to point out that this is not correct," the Financial Times said, quoting Menke in the report.