{
  "id": 3048804,
  "title": "Privatbank: Berenberg ordnet nach Skandal Gesellschafterkreis neu",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/privatbank-berenberg-ordnet-nach-skandal-gesellschafterkreis-neu",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-24T15:08:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/banken-versicherungen/privatbank-berenberg-ordnet-nach-skandal-gesellschafterkreis-neu/100249350.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "The Hamburg private bank Berenberg is reorganizing its shareholder circle after a scandal forced a change in leadership, according to a statement on Monday. The Hamburg Döhle Group takes the majority of former bank chief Hendrik Riehmer's shares, holding nearly ten percent of Berenberg, while Riehmer no longer owns any shares. A balance sheet scandal led to the dismissal of the entire bank management in June, including Riehmer, David Mortlock, and Christian Kühn. Mortlock and Kühn, along with other former personally liable shareholders, still hold nearly seven percent of the institution. The price for Riehmer's shares was agreed upon in silence, with the Döhle Group stating it is a pure financial interest and will not have access to the bank's business. The Döhle Group is an international shipping and maritime services group founded in 1956, with about 5,000 employees and headquarters in Hamburg's Elbchaussee. Berenberg's managing director and former board chairman is one of the special envoys appointed by the financial supervision authority to lead Berenberg currently. The second special envoy is Michael Horf, a former Degussa Bank board member. The forced leadership change is due to accusations that the former business leaders inflated business figures using illicit accounting tricks, and that Berenberg provided loans to Riehmer, violating strict rules for lending to executives. In recent years, Berenberg was led operationally by Riehmer, who has been with the traditional house since 1994 and became a personally liable shareholder in 2008. Together with Peters, he transformed Berenberg into an investment bank, earning money through stock placements, funds, and asset management. Riehmer and Peters jointly owned more than 20 percent of Berenberg, which they pooled in the PetRie investment company. This company holds the shares that Döhle now acquires, along with another nearly ten percent from Riehmer's share, held by the Berenberg family (32 percent) and other shareholders (PetRie, 21 percent; Christian Fürst zu Fürstenberg and Jan Philipp Reemtsma, each 14 percent).",
  "summary": "Der von der Finanzaufsicht kaltgestellte Geschäftsleiter Hendrik Riehmer verkauft seine Anteile an der Privatbank. Eine Hamburger Kaufmannsfamilie übernimmt sie.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}