 Kirch sued Deutsche Bank after Rolf E. Breuer, chief executive at the time, appeared on Bloomberg Television in 2002 and commented on the Kirch Group's creditworthiness, saying that the financial sector was unwilling to lend to the company (the Kirch Group was a client of the Bank at the time).Kirch asserted that the Bank had breached German confidentiality laws and tried to damage his company's reputation, blaming the Bank for the Kirch Group's collapse.After decades of litigation, Deutsche Bank announced in 2014 that it would pay Kirch's heirs more than €775 million ($1.06 billion) in a legal settlement, although it denies the allegations contended by Kirch.