Deutsche Bank Settles Dispute With Ex-Top Manager Schiraldi

Deutsche Bank AG has settled a court case brought by Dario Schiraldi, a former manager who’d sued the lender for allegedly damaging his career by wrongfully blaming him in the Monte dei Paschi accounting affair.

No terms on the settlement were disclosed by a spokesman for the lender who confirmed the step. The Frankfurt Court also confirmed that Schiraldi withdrew his suit.

Schiraldi, who worked at Deutsche Bank’s asset and wealth management division, filed a case in Frankfurt in 2024 seeking around €152 million ($177 million) in damages. He was among six former Deutsche Bank employees initially convicted in Italy in 2019 over their alleged role in the scandal surrounding Monte dei Paschi, before being fully acquitted in 2022 by a Milan appeals court. Schiraldi is now the second to resolve the dispute out of court after Michele Foresti settled with Deutsche Bank earlier this year.

Schiraldi wasn’t immediately available for comment and his German lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Deutsche Bank said the settlement would have a “small” impact on its third quarter earnings.

Four cases are still pending in a London court, where the ex-employees are suing the bank for at least £664 million ($899 million), according to the filing seen by Bloomberg. Among them is Michele Faissola, the former head of Deutsche Bank’s asset and wealth management business, who is seeking as much as £500 million in his UK lawsuit, people familiar have said.

The group of bankers also includes Ivor Scott Dunbar, the former co-head of global capital markets; Matteo Angelo Vaghi, who previously lead the bank’s Italian sales operation; and former account manager Marco Veroni.

At the center of the accounting affair is an audit report commissioned by Deutsche Bank in 2013 reviewing repo deals that the German lender did with Monte dei Paschi.

At the time, current CEO Christian Sewing was put in charge of the report, people familiar with the case previously said. The ex-staffers argued that the review wasn’t handled neutrally and unfairly pinned the blame on them, even claiming they manipulated the relevant market prices.

Top photo: The headquarters of Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt. Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg.