PARIS – The big German lender Deutsche Bank on Thursday denied a report that it had hidden $12 billion in losses during the financial crisis. The bank said charges made by whistle-blowers had been investigated previously and found to be without merit.
Deutsche Bank was responding to a report in The Financial Times on Thursday that said the bank sought to avoid a government bailout by understating the value of a big derivatives bet that was potentially worth $130 billion in so-called notional terms
The report, citing “people familiar with the complaints,” said the whistle-blowers stated that if Deutsche Bank had acknowledged the true situation, its capital would have been dangerously depleted, possibly requiring it to seek a bailout.
The Financial Times article appeared to echo one by Reuters from June 2011.
Deutsche Bank said in a statement that “allegations of financial misstatements, which are more than two and one-half years old and were publicly reported in June 2011, have been the subject of a careful and thorough investigation, and they are wholly unfounded.”
The bank said the charges had been made by “people without personal knowledge of, or responsibility for, key facts and information.” The bank said it would continue to cooperate with an investigation into the matter by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The valuations and financial reporting were proper, and a significant portion of these positions were subsequently unwound in an orderly sale,” the bank said.
Ronald Weichert, a Deutsche Bank spokesman, declined to expand on the statement.
Ben Fischer, a spokesman for the German securities regulator BaFin, said by e-mail: “We are not able to comment on single institutions.” The S.E.C. could not be reached immediately for comment.
Deutsche Bank, like most of the biggest global lenders, has been dogged by ethical questions in recent years. It is among the banks accused of manipulating the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, which is used to set interest rates on trillions of dollars of financial contracts worldwide.
The report appeared to have little effect on investor confidence on Thursday, as shares in Deutsche Bank rose 2.4 percent in morning trading in Frankfurt.