Deutsche Bank chairman quits after legal fight

FRANKURT - The chairman of Deutsche Bank, Rolf Breuer, is resigning after the German Supreme Court decided he and the bank could be liable for comments by Breuer which media mogul Leo Kirch said led to the collapse of his empire.

Breuer is one of the most powerful managers at the bank, responsible for the appointment of its chief executive, Josef Ackermann.

His departure follows a long-running legal wrangle with fallen German television mogul Kirch.

Last January, the German federal court said Breuer could in principle be held personally liable for remarks in a 2002 television interview that Kirch said undermined his efforts to raise money as his empire creaked under a mountain of debt.

In the interview, Breuer said: "From what you can read and hear, the finance sector is not willing to provide further debt or equity on the same terms."

Kirch, who filed for insolvency weeks later, said the interview torpedoed attempts to raise money.

The court also said Breuer's words had breached Deutsche Bank's duty not to endanger the Kirch business's creditworthiness.

Kirch, 79, will now need to bring a separate case to determine the amount of damages, should the two sides not settle out of court first.

Deutsche Bank's finance chief Clemens Boersig will now take Breuer's job. Ackermann welcomed Breuer's decision, which followed the Supreme Court's ruling in January this year.

- REUTERS