New details emerge in boardroom tiff at major German broker

flatexDEGIRO SE

08/05/2024 14:30

By Tom Sims
       FRANKFURT, May 8 (Reuters) - New details emerged on
Wednesday of a deepening boardroom tussle at a leading online
broker in Germany, with a document claiming that a significant
contingent of investors had demanded a change of chief executive
in November but was stalled by the chair.
    Investors representing 35% of shares at the online broker,
FlatexDegiro  FTKn.DE , wrote to the company's supervisory board
in November asking it to replace the CEO, Frank Niehage.
    But the request was initially ignored by the board's chair
and only taken up after repeated entreaties, the document seen
by Reuters said. 
    Niehage suddenly resigned last month but now the focus is on
Chair Martin Korbmacher.
    The recounting of events was described in a document for the
broker's annual general shareholder meeting next month. The
version of events is presented as justification for ousting
Korbmacher at that meeting.
    FlatexDegiro declined immediate comment. 
    Korbmacher did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. He has previously declined to comment or not responded
to requests.
    The broker's top investor and company founder Bernd Foertsch
has been behind the push to oust the chair, telling Reuters
earlier this week that he wanted a "fresh start" for the
company. 
    A spokesperson for Foertsch confirmed the accuracy of the
document but asked Reuters to make clear the spokesperson was
not the source.
    The dispute is part of an ongoing, escalating and unusually
public boardroom strife in Germany, where power struggles are
usually behind closed doors.
         

 (Reporting by Tom Sims;
Editing by Miranda Murray and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
 ((Tom.Sims@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220 133 645;))