Rolf Breuer, chairman of Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board, has applauded the decision to close DB Real Estate’s €6bn Grundbesitz-Invest fund earlier this week.
“The issue was a further milestone on the way out of Deutschland AG,” Breuer was quoted as saying by the Financial Times Deutschland.
The banker, known for his outspokenness, added that he expected open-ended funds to make way for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in a couple of years.
Deutsche Bank has been criticized for closing the fund earlier this week as it ordered a complete revaluation of the 130 or so assets in the fund.
Other fund managers feared that Deutsche Bank’s actions could lead to a run on other funds, although so far that hasn’t happened.
In a move to limit the damage, Deutsche Bank said it would compensate those who had invested in the fund during the past two years, but offered no details on the compensation.
BaFin is still waiting for an official explanation on the closure of the fund.
Breuer’s comments came as BaFin launched a separate investigation into possible insider trading of Deutsche Bank shares ahead of the closure of the Grundbesitz-Invest fund.
Further, Germany’s highest court, Bundesgerichtshof, overturned a ruling by the Düsseldorf district court that had cleared Deutsche Bank’s CEO Josef Ackermann and five others of “Untreue,” a German legal term comparable to breach of trust.
Last year, the Düsseldorf district court found Ackermann and five other defendants not guilty.
In his role as supervisory board member, Ackermann was partly responsible for awarding the Mannesmann management millions in bonuses and pension monies following the takeover of Mannesmann by Vodafone.
