<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Three execs at 'dumbest German bank' suspended
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->BERLIN: Three executives dubbed 'Germany's stupidest bankers' in the press were suspended from state bank KfW over erroneous transfers of ¥300 million (S$618 million) to bankrupt Lehman Brothers.
While the rest of the financial community was scrambling to get its money out, KfW, a government-owned lender, gave Lehman what might be called a parting gift, transferring ¥300 million to the investment bank on the same day it filed for bankruptcy.
The payment, described by the bank, KfW Bankengruppe, as an 'automated transfer', provoked an outcry across the political spectrum.
The largest-circulation German newspaper Bild splashed a headline across its front page on Thursday calling KfW 'Germany's dumbest bank'.
The bank's administrative board, made up of politicians and business leaders, met in Berlin amid calls for dismissals and resignations.
Two KfW management board members, Mr Peter Fleischer and Mr Detlef Leinberger, were suspended with immediate effect until the embarrassing incident is cleared up. It did not elaborate on their responsibility for the error.
A lower-ranking department head responsible for risk control also was suspended.
A law firm has been hired to see if further 'consequences' are appropriate.
KfW, already under fire over its rescue of IKB - Germany's biggest casualty of the sub-prime crisis - will subject its business procedures, especially those for risk management, to an 'in-depth audit'.
KfW hopes to get some of the money back, though it did not say how much.
Its total exposure to Lehman Brothers was about ¥500 million, according to internal estimates. ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->BERLIN: Three executives dubbed 'Germany's stupidest bankers' in the press were suspended from state bank KfW over erroneous transfers of ¥300 million (S$618 million) to bankrupt Lehman Brothers.
While the rest of the financial community was scrambling to get its money out, KfW, a government-owned lender, gave Lehman what might be called a parting gift, transferring ¥300 million to the investment bank on the same day it filed for bankruptcy.
The payment, described by the bank, KfW Bankengruppe, as an 'automated transfer', provoked an outcry across the political spectrum.
The largest-circulation German newspaper Bild splashed a headline across its front page on Thursday calling KfW 'Germany's dumbest bank'.
The bank's administrative board, made up of politicians and business leaders, met in Berlin amid calls for dismissals and resignations.
Two KfW management board members, Mr Peter Fleischer and Mr Detlef Leinberger, were suspended with immediate effect until the embarrassing incident is cleared up. It did not elaborate on their responsibility for the error.
A lower-ranking department head responsible for risk control also was suspended.
A law firm has been hired to see if further 'consequences' are appropriate.
KfW, already under fire over its rescue of IKB - Germany's biggest casualty of the sub-prime crisis - will subject its business procedures, especially those for risk management, to an 'in-depth audit'.
KfW hopes to get some of the money back, though it did not say how much.
Its total exposure to Lehman Brothers was about ¥500 million, according to internal estimates. ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
