New Frankfurt
Deutsche Börse's ESG Chief, Oliver Engels, announces departure.
Oliver Engels is bailing out from Deutsche Börse. A confirmation from "The Market" was backed by the exchange on Wednesday following an inquiry by Börsen-Zeitung. His successor will be an internal appointment. Starting July 1, Daniel Sonnenburg steps into the role as the new Chief Sustainability Officer, previously handling Government Relations at Deutsche Börse. In this shift, he'll be shifting his focus from political relations to sustainability.
This personnel change will see the Deutsche Börse tweaking its organizational structure. Engels' former team, "ESG Strategy", will be assimilated into the larger team headed by Niels Brab, who leads the "Chief of Staff / Group Corporate and Regulatory Strategy" department. The exchange explains this transition as an effort to position sustainability topics closer to strategic matters. Both units fall under the purview of CEO Stephan Leithner on the management tiers.
There's been no acknowledgment of any political pressure from the USA regarding this departure. US President Donald Trump had lately been pushing companies to abandon standards of sustainability and diversity.
Daniel Sonnenburg, a high-ranking executive at Deutsche Börse, has taken the reins of sustainability after Engels' departure as the ESG chief, now becoming the driving force behind the company's sustainable finance endeavors. Despite a scarcity of public information about Sonnenburg's past positions or extensive background within the company or externally, his new post earns him a significant role in shaping Deutsche Börse's sustainability agenda.
In this organizational restructuring at Deutsche Börse, the focus on sustainability will be spearheaded by Daniel Sonnenburg, who is now the new Chief Sustainability Officer, moving from his previous role in Government Relations. His key responsibility will involve driving the company's sustainable finance business.
The assimilation of the ESG Strategy team into the larger team under Niels Brab indicates a strategic shift toward aligning sustainability topics more closely with critical business matters at Deutsche Börse.
