Ex-CEO of Germany's IKB convicted

[July 14, 2010]  BERLIN (AP) -- The former chief executive of Germany's IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG has been convicted of misleading investors over the extent of the lender's exposure to the looming financial crisis in 2007.

The German news agency DDP reported that the Duesseldorf state court found Stefan Ortseifen guilty of market manipulation Wednesday. It imposed a 10-month suspended sentence and a euro100,000 ($127,000) fine.

IKB issued a profit warning on July 30, 2007, saying it had "felt the impact of the crisis in the U.S. subprime mortgage market" and Ortseifen had resigned.

Prosecutors said that 10 days before the profit warning Ortseifen issued a statement in which the economic impact on IKB was deliberately portrayed too positively.

Ortseifen has denied wrongdoing.

[Associated Press]

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