June 2, 2022: -On Wednesday, the embattled chief executive of Deutsche Bank’s asset manager DWS said he would step down in the upcoming week as the company faced allegations of misleading investors about “green” investments.

On Tuesday, the move marks a critical moment in an ongoing rumor that had dogged the firm for many months and hit a high pitch when German prosecutors intruded on DWS and the headquarters of Deutsche Bank because of the allegations.

In a memo, the outgoing CEO, Asoka Woehrmann, told employees that it was a pleasure to see DWS flourish but that “allegations, however unfounded or undefendable, have left a mark.”

“To quote Charles Dickens: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he said in the memo, which Reuters saw.

Stefan Hoops, a confidant of Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing, will be at the place of Woehrmann with effect from June 10.

On Tuesday, DWS and Deutsche Bank said the asset manager had cooperated with regulators and authorities in the history and would persist in doing so. DWS noted that it had misled investors.

Woehrmann resigned as CEO of DWS Group with effect from the end of June 9, the day of its annual general meeting.

Hoops has stood overseeing Deutsche Bank’s corporate banking division since 2019.