U.S. monitor seeks more transparency from
VW over emissions
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[August 27, 2018]
FRANKFURT/ WOLFSBURG (Reuters) -
Volkswagen's <VOWG_p.DE> external compliance monitor on Monday said he
disagreed with some VW executives' use of privacy and attorney client
privilege rights to withhold information about a $27 billion global
emissions cheating scandal.
The German carmaker was ordered by the United States Department of
Justice to deliver three annual reports examining its violations to
Larry Thompson, a former deputy U.S. attorney general, after it was
caught manipulating pollution tests.
Thompson is now acting as an Independent Compliance Auditor (ICA) as
part of a plea agreement reached after U.S. authorities blew the whistle
on Volkswagen's excessive diesel pollution on Sept. 18, 2015.
"With respect to the VW defendants' assertions of privilege and work
product, the ICA has disagreed with some of the VW defendants'
assertions," Thompson's interim report said on Monday.
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"The VW defendants have promised further improvements in their provision
of information, and increased the frequency of discussions with the ICA
regarding this topic."
Thompson's role is to ensure VW's systems conform to new compliance
standards.
In 2017, the ICA identified 176 "corrective actions" to be taken by
Volkswagen and a further 240, in 2018, the report said without providing
further detail.
Since 2015, Volkswagen has insisted that its diesel cheating was the
work of low level executives.
But earlier this year, Rupert Stadler, the chief executive of VW's
premium brand Audi, was remanded in custody for potential obstruction of
justice related to an emissions probe, and U.S. authorities have filed
criminal charges against former VW Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn.
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![](../images/082718pics/news_h15.jpg)
A Volkswagen logo is pictured during the Volkswagen Group's annual
general meeting in Berlin, Germany, May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Axel
Schmidt
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Both executives deny wrongdoing.
Since 2015, prosecutors in Braunschweig, near where VW is
headquartered, have identified 39 suspects for their involvement in
an emissions cheating scandal and have also investigated other
companies including Daimler <DAIGn.DE> auto supplier Bosch for
separate emissions issues.
Braunschweig prosecutors are also investigating Volkswagen's current
chairman and chief executive to see whether VW executives informed
markets in a timely manner about the financial fallout from the
scandal. Volkswagen has said its management has not violated
disclosure rules.
Hiltrud Werner, VW's board member for integrity and legal affairs,
said the carmaker was working steadily to adapt its systems and code
of conduct to learn from the crisis.
Volkswagen wants to put integrity on an equal footing with world
class profitability and manufacturing world class vehicles, a task
that will take until 2025, she said.
"We face a marathon ahead of us to implement this," Werner said.
(Reporting by Edward Taylor in Frankfurt and Jan Schwartz in
Wolfsburg; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Jane Merriman)
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