New details emerge in boardroom tiff at major German broker (updated)

flatexDEGIRO SE

08/05/2024 15:42

(Updates with graphic, adds Flatex announcement on chair in
paragraph 8, comment in paragraph 11, background in paragraphs
13-14)
    By Tom Sims
       FRANKFURT, May 8 (Reuters) - New details emerged on
Wednesday of a boardroom tussle at a leading online broker in
Germany, with a document claiming that a significant group of
shareholders had demanded a change of chief executive in
November but this was initially ignored by the chairman.
    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 CEO Frank Niehage.
    But the request was ignored by the board's chairman and only
acted on after repeated demands, the document, seen by Reuters,
said. 
    The dispute is part of an unusually public boardroom strife
in Germany, where power struggles are usually behind closed
doors.
    The document, an addendum to FlatexDegiro's shareholder
meeting agenda, shows that the tensions at the broker have been
simmering for longer than previously known, well before CEO
Niehage suddenly resigned last month. 
    Now the focus of some investors is to oust chairman Martin
Korbmacher. The document seen by Reuters has Korbmacher's
initial stalling on the CEO issue as a reason to remove him at
next month's shareholder meeting.
    FlatexDegiro declined immediate comment.
    The broker separately said its board would ask shareholders
to reject the motion to remove Korbmacher. 
    Korbmacher did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. He has previously declined to comment. 
    Bernd Foertsch, the broker's top investor and company
founder, 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 document alleged that Korbmacher was in "blatant
violation of the duty incumbent on the chairman ... to represent
the interests of the company in the best possible way".
    Foertsch is also seeking a board seat. 
    In a departing swipe, former CEO Niehage said Foertsch was
trying get a supervisory board seat "through the back door,
claiming to know better what's good for the firm", and called on
shareholders to vote in favour of Korbmacher at their meeting.

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