Wednesday December 18 two fake press releases were diffused in the news wire, spreading the rumour about Deutsche Bank facing a large accounting scandal and firing its Chief Financial Officer . The accounting scandal would imply the restate of the financial statements and the report of net loss for 2012 and 2013.
At 3 P.M. a fake Financial Times breaking news was sent by e-mail to almost ten thousand Financial Times subscribers.
A fake Deutsche Bank release as well was sent to more than a thousand Deutsche Bank contacts.
The action negatively affected the Deutsche Bank shares' price: between European 4 P.M. And 5 P.M.,
the price was visibly decreasing, either on the Deutsche Börse and on the New York Stock Exchange.
In
these times of austerity policies, a bit of austerity for Deutsche
Bank would make many of us smile. Deutsche Bank, while politically
supporting and pushing for European austerity policies, keeps having
huge profits and large bonuses for its management. A large coalition
of different actors is supporting and profiting from this austerity
policy that screws over most of us: the Troika which pushes the
policies, the national states applying these cutbacks and
militarising even more cities in order to prevent and repress social
unrest, financial institutions that allow the international financial
system to work, companies in whatever sector that keep gaining
relevant part of their profit from the indirect exploitation through
financial markets.
Deutsche Bank, together with other large
European banks, has very large investments in Greece, Spain, Italy,
Portugal, and need austerity policies for protecting its assets, and
had a strong influence on European policy makers in order to force
these countries to pay their bill.
Financial institutions
play a central role in protecting this financial system, and they
decide about the lives of millions of people. Their authority is
untouchable and derive partially from the monopoly they have over
information and their strong ties with politicians on their payroll.
They use this monopoly together with a strategy of manipulation, lies
and the distortion and
of reality in order to maintain the current
order. Everything which comes out of their official statements is
perceived as unquestionable economical truth and has consequences as
such.
But have we ever thought that this power is merely
conventional and just derived by their recognition as official source
of information? Have we ever thought that this power stems from their
ability to surf on the flow of information? That have you ever though
that this flow is in reality fragile and very unstable, and can be
turned against them?
Today's action showed us their monopoly
of information is not untouchable, and we can learn from their
strategies of lie and manipulation and turn it against those who are
supposedly entitled to act it. They love to show that they are
almighty, but they are not. They will be really afraid to find out
that if you discover the rules of their little game, it can be turned
against them.
The interesting part is that you don't really
need to be a specialist for gathering some information and diffuse a
false rumour. Even sending a forged mail is freaking easy. Anyone can
do it...
So let's be creative in finding new tactics for the
struggle against capitalism and authority! Everything is possible,
there is always a backdoor open!
The article from Finance Magazine on the action (in German):
The original claim:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/104366
Analysis connected to the action:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2013/12/514307.html
Below you can find:
-The text of the fake Financial Times release
-The text of the fake Deutsche Bank release
Fake Financial Times release
Deutsche Bank finances in upheaval; CFO fired
Deutsche Bank fired its top financial executive Stefan Krause after discovering that the company had improperly accounted for almost €7 billion on its corporate balance sheets during the past seven quarters. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the company said an internal audit revealed that expenses had been booked as capital expenditures. Taking the new information into account, the company said it would have reported a net loss for 2012 and the first three quarters of 2013. "As a result of an internal audit of the company's capital expenditure accounting, it was determined that certain transfers from line cost expenses to capital accounts during this period were not made in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles", the company said. The amounts under investigation included more than €4 billion in 2012 and more than €2 billion for the first three quarters of 2013, the company said. Deutsche Bank said it had fired Stefan Krause as chief financial officer. The company has also accepted the resignation of Henry Ritchotte as chief operating officer. On Tuesday, after being notified of the results of Deutsche Bank's internal audit, the company's auditor KPMG stated, its audit reports for 2012 and the first three quarters of 2013 could not be relied on, according to the Deutsche Bank statement.
Fake Deutsche Bank release
Deutsche Bank restates its financial statements
Frankfurt am Main, 18 December 2013 Deutsche Bank (XETRA: DBKGn.DE / NYSE: DB) today announced it intends to restate its financial statements for 2012 and the first three quarters of 2013. As a result of an internal audit of the company's capital expenditure accounting, it was determined that certain transfers from line cost expenses to capital accounts during this period were not made in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The amount of these transfers was €4,435 million for 2012 and $2,310 million for first three quarters of 2013. Without these transfers, the company's reported net revenue would be reduced to €29,306 million for 2012 and €20.241 million for first three quarters of 2013, and the company would have reported a net loss for 2012 and for the first three quarters of 2013. The company promptly notified notified KPMG SA, which had audited the company's financial statements for 2012 and for the first three quarters 2013, promptly upon discovering these transfers. On Tuesday 17, KPMG advised Deutsche Bank that in light of the inappropriate transfers of line costs, KPMG's audit report on the company's financial statements for 2012 and KPMG's review of the company's financial statements for the first three quarters of 2013 could not be relied upon. The company will issue unaudited financial statements for 2012 and for the first three quarters of 2013 as soon as practicable. When an audit is completed, the company will provide new audited financial statements for all required periods. Also, Deutsche Bank is reviewing its financial guidance. The company has terminated Stefan Krause as chief financial officer. The company has accepted the resignation of Henry Ritchotte as chief operating officer. Deutsche Bank has notified the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) of these events. The expected restatement of operating results for 2012 and 2013 is not expected to have an impact on the Company's cash position and will not affect Deutsche Bank's customers or services. "Our senior management team is shocked by these discoveries," said Jürgen Fitschen, Deutsche Bank Co-CEO. "We are committed to operating Deutsche Bank in accordance with the highest ethical standards." "I want to assure our costumers and employees that the Deutsche Bank group remains viable and committed to a long-term future. Our services and products are in no way affected by this matter, and our dedication to meeting costumers needs remains unwavering," added Fitschen. "I and the management team strongly commit to driving fundamental change at Deutsche Bank."