Break up with Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank is one of the most influential banks in the world and has 27 million clients worldwide. Behind much greenwashing lies a well-disguised and complex web of damaging partnerships and investments. We want to draw attention to this with this campaign and increase the pressure on Deutsche Bank.

Deutsche Bank, through its subsidiary DWS, invests $17.6 billion (as of January 2023) in stocks and bonds of companies that want to expand the extraction of coal, natural gas and oil - more than any other German asset manager. With this money, DWS finances the emission of around 49 million tonnes of CO2 annually - that is more than Lufthansa. All this despite the fact that Deutsche Bank is part of the Net Zero Banking Alliance (1).

Deutsche Bank has financed projects and companies with high illegal deforestation risk with almost 272 million US dollars since 2013 - the largest investment by a German bank (2). It also invests in the world's leading meat producer, JBS, which is driving illegal deforestation of the Amazon in Brazil to enable factory farming of cattle.

Deutsche Bank prides itself as an international company and accordingly spreads neo-colonial and capitalist structures. It supports the displacement of indigenous people around the world. For example, in 2018, the bank bought $8.7 billion worth of bonds from TransCanada Pipelines Ltd, which plans to build a new gas pipeline through protected areas of the Wet'suwet'en Territory, displacing the Indigenous people who live there (3).

Deutsche Bank also draws no ethical line to the arms industry. With DWS, it invests in companies involved in the sale of weapons to high-risk countries. The money is used to develop weapons and sell them to countries such as Saudi Arabia, which are fuelling the war and humanitarian crisis in Yemen (4).

DEUTSCHE BANK AND DWS - THE GREENWASHING PROFESSIONALS

All these investments are actively hidden from clients. Through false promises and targets and seemingly sustainable initiatives, they distract from their harmful business. But greenwashing is not a trivial offence, it is a tangible fraud. This has been clear at the latest since the public prosecutor's office, the financial supervisory authority and the Federal Criminal Police Office searched the headquarters of Deutsche Bank and its fund subsidiary DWS in Frankfurt's banking district at the end of May 2022. The accusation: false statements regarding sustainable financial products. Publicly, DWS denies the accusations, continues to beat the advertising drum for sustainable investments and professes its image-effective commitment to the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement (whereas in reality they are on course for 2.6 degrees).

As Greenpeace says: "Germany's largest fund company DWS (Deutsche Bank) is financing the climate crash despite its commitment to the Paris 1.5 degree target." -read more

Deutsche Bank will not voluntarily exit these profitable businesses quickly and extensively enough. Nor will it simply stop the flow of blood money it receives from its dubious investments in companies that violate human rights.

There are two ways to put pressure on banks: they can be regulated by the European Central Bank (ECB) and governments, and they must respond to their clientele as market-oriented companies.

Other groups like 350, Greenpeace and Urgewald have also already addressed these issues and formulated demands to the company and politicians. We want to increase the pressure on Deutsche Bank in the longer term, and make it more difficult for them to continue to greenwash so brazenly while acting so destructively.

If you have an account with Deutsche Bank or one of its subsidiaries Postbank or Norisbank, we urge you: Break up with Deutsche Bank!

STEP 1: OPEN A NEW ACCOUNT WITH A SUSTAINABLE BANK.

GLS Bank
Triodos Bank
Ethikbank
TomorrowApp

On this page of Fairfinance you can find more information about alternatives https://www.fairfinanceguide.de/

STEP 2: NOW YOU HAVE TO DO SOME WORK, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU HAVE TO REGISTER STANDING ORDERS WITH THE NEW BANK.

But: Since 2016, banks have been legally obliged to support you in switching. Banks offer digital switching assistance. The switching service analyses the direct debits, standing orders and incoming payments on the old account and you can decide who is to be informed about the new account connection. You sign digitally and the switching service sends the letters to the payment partners. You can also decide when you want to start using the new current account for payments.

STEP 3 : ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED STEPS 1 AND 2, YOU CAN CLOSE YOUR OLD ACCOUNT

Here is a Form,

that you need to fill in and send to your old bank. It is best to make it clear to Deutsche Bank why you are closing your account. You can attach a letter to the form, visit a branch or - even better - create a video or photo with a short text and post it on social media. Tag @deutschebank on Instagram und @DeutscheBank on X (formerly Twitter) and use the hashtag #Breakupwithdeutschebank

Link to the cancellation form

Tip: For payment partners such as Amazon, Ebay or PayPal, customers must change their bank details themselves in their customer profile. The bank can only inform the account holder that there is a need for action on the part of the customer.

STEP 4: FOLLOW THE CAMPAIGN!

Follow our other campaign content and activities on Instagram: @xrdeutschland and @deutschebankpositiveimpact

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN!

If you want to distribute German flyers about Deutsche Bank that show the truth about some of their harmful deals, you can download them here:|

Deutsche Bank unterstützt fossile Energie

Deutsche Bank unterstützt Waffen

Deutsche Bank unterstützt neokolionalistischen Extraktivismus

Deutsche Bank unterstützt die Abholzung des Regenwaldes