THE head of Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest bank, was yesterday cleared of criminal charges relating to €60 million (£40 million) in bonuses granted to executives of Mannesmann, the German telecoms group, during its £101 billion takeover by Vodafone of the UK.

Josef Ackermann, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank, and five other defendants were cleared by a judge in Düsseldorf after a six-month trial.

The prosecutors now have one week to appeal against the decision, which had been widely expected after an interim ruling in March.

Mr Ackermann was visibly relieved after the verdict was given. He said: “An acquittal is an acquittal, I am happy about that. I can now concentrate on the bank again.”

He added: “I am extraordinarily grateful that the court sees the situation the way we have always presented it.”

With the trial over, Mr Ackermann is expected to return to the task of expanding Deutsche, either through organic growth or acquisition.

Before becoming embroiled in the trial, the biggest in Germany’s corporate history, Mr Ackermann had been attempting to merge Deutsche Bank with Citigroup, the world’s biggest bank. Commerzbank has also been named as a possible takeover target, as have Credit Suisse and Britain’s Barclays and Lloyds TSB.

Despite Mr Ackermann’s exoneration, he still faces hurdles to any international deals because of internal opposition. Ulrich Cartellieri, the most powerful member of Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board, is thought to have opposed the deal with Citigroup.

Although Mr Ackermann and the other defendants have been cleared of the criminal charges, there is still some doubt over whether Germany’s stock corporation laws had been broken.

In the interim judgment in March, Judge Brigitte Koppenhöfer indicated that stock corporation law appeared to have been breached because the scale of the bonuses awarded was not “appropriate”.

Mr Ackermann said: “There are differing opinions on that. Today we have heard a slightly different interpretation of corporate law. This needs to be discussed openly.”

Despite the doubts, Mr Ackermann and his co-defendants are free to leave because it is not in the criminal court’s remit to judge breaches of a civil code. It is unlikely to result in a fresh court case because Mannesmann no longer has any shareholders to initiate one.

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