Pbb chief Manuela Better resigns suddenly

Manuela Better has stepped down as management board chairman and CEO of pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and Hypo Real Estate Holding (HRE) with immediate effect.

In a statement issued on Tuesday evening, the Federal Agency for Financial Market Stabilisation (FMSA) said the supervisory boards of both institutions had accepted Better’s request to be dismissed from her duties ‘with immediate effect’.

Better’s sudden departure stems from a dispute about the future of HRE bank subsidiary Depfa. Better had favoured a sale of Depfa, whereas the FMSA was in favour of winding down the bank under the government’s ‘bad bank’ scheme FMS Wertmanagement.

'Following FMSA's decision not to sell Depfa but to wind it down under the responsibility of FMS Wertmanagement, the option I did not favour, I no longer saw any basis for carrying out the duties of my office,' Better said in the statement.

Her responsibilities at Pbb and HRE will be taken over on an interim basis by finance chief Andreas Amdt.

Munich-based Hypo Real Estate was bailed out by the German government in October 2008 and nationalised a year later. The performing unit was spun off as a separate entity and rebranded as pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank ahead of a sell-off at a future date.