8 Worst Corporate Scandals in Europe

7. Deutsche Bank Spying Scandal

This one’s both sordid and ridiculous at the same time. Political spying is to be expected at times, but corporate spying is something we just don’t see every day. Well, Germany’s largest bank has been hit with internal spying scandal in which bank’s corporate security department apparently spied on management board members, supervisory board members, investors, and shareholders. Spying was conducted between 2001 and 2007 when it was finally brought to public attention. DB had initially fired two of its officials responsible for security: Wolfram Schmitt and head of security Rafael Schenz. However, that was pretty much all they’ve done, and they could have done. For wrongful dismissals, DB had lost $6.7 million in lawsuits. Much more important, DB has lost 29% of its solvency the year following the scandal. That’s what happens when you violate your client’s trust and dabble in their private affairs. While those $6.7 million don’t look like much, negative effect on consumer confidence means that Deutsche Bank had lost much, much more money in the process. Some investors decided to pull back from the bank, and DB is still recovering from the scandal. DB isn’t the only German corporation that had gone through the process recently. Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Bahn, and Lidl have had spying scandals of their own which make us question the moral ethics of business practice in Europe’s largest economy.

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