Deutsche Bank announces plans to cut over 7,000 jobs as part of broader restructuring
Deutsche Bank said this morning it intended to reduce headcount by over 7,000 with cuts already getting underway.
The German lender intends to slash the number of full-time positions from just over 97,000 to “well below” 90,000 as part of wider work within the company to cut costs and return to profit.
We remain committed to our corporate and investment bank and our international presence – we are unwavering in that,” said the bank’s new chief executive, Christian Sewing. “We are Europe’s alternative in the international financing and capital markets business. However, we must concentrate on what we truly do well.”
Read more: Deutsche Bank unveils major investment bank shake-up and plans for cuts
The bank will cut headcount in its equities sales and trading business by around 25 per cent, and in prime finance, Deutsche Bank plans to reduce leverage exposure by a quarter too – equivalent to a reduction of around €50bn.
Sewing was appointed to replace boss John Cryan in April, after the latter came under pressure with the third consecutive year of losses for the lender last year.
Sewing, who has spent his entire career at Deutsche Bank, was Cryan’s co-deputy, along with Marcus Schenck.
In February the bank reported a loss of €500m (£436m) for 2017, with Cryan himself saying the results were not satisfactory.
The latest news comes ahead of Deutsche Bank’s annual general meeting later today, where shareholders have warned chairman Paul Achleitner there will be tough questions to answer.
Hermes EOS – the governance branch of asset manager Hermes – said Achleitner was “ultimately responsible for sustainable value creation” at the German bank, and questioned the high turnover of management and supervisory board members under his watch.
“The continuing frequent departures of management board members raises the question of whether there are deficiencies in the supervisory board’s selection process of senior executives,” said Hans-Christoph Hirt, head of Hermes EOS
Read more: Deutsche Bank has appointed Frank Kuhnke as its new chief operating officer