Desiree Fixler is a sustainable finance expert and internationally recognized whistleblower who formerly served as Group Sustainability Officer at DWS Group, the asset-management arm of Deutsche Bank. In 2021, she raised concerns that DWS had overstated how deeply environmental, social, and governance criteria were integrated into its investment process, allegations that helped spark investigations in the United States and Germany. 

The case became one of the most prominent greenwashing scandals in global finance. In 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fined DWS $19 million over misstatements related to its ESG investment process, part of a broader $25 million settlement that also included anti-money-laundering violations. Despite Fixler’s central role in exposing the alleged misconduct and assisting regulators, Fixler was denied an SEC whistleblower award. She is now challenging that denial in federal court, arguing that the SEC’s decision undermines the purpose of its whistleblower program and could discourage future insiders from coming forward.