Deutsche Bank whistleblower spurns US$8m SEC reward

Hong Kong

A FORMER Deutsche Bank AG risk officer said he was refusing an US$8.25 million reward from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for blowing the whistle on the lender overvaluing a derivatives portfolio, because of his concern that the SEC didn't go after senior executives.

The US$55 million fine that Deutsche Bank paid in a settlement announced by the SEC in May last year had penalised shareholders, while top executives retired with their multi-million dollar bonuses intact, Eric Ben-Artzi wrote in a Financial Times column published on Friday.