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Co-CEOs of Deutsche Bank quit under pressure
FRANKFURT, Germany — Bowing to increasing shareholder pressure, Deutsche Bank said Sunday that its co-chief executives, Anshu Jain and Jurgen Fitschen, had resigned and would be replaced by John Cryan, the former chief financial officer of the Swiss bank UBS.
Some large shareholders had called for Jain and Fitschen to step down because of a series of large legal penalties imposed on the bank for past wrongdoing, as well as inconsistent profit and questions about the bank’s strategy.
The resignation of Jain, 52, will take effect at the end of June. Fitschen, 66, will stay on for another year to ensure a smooth transition, according to Deutsche Bank.
Although some shareholders had been clamoring for a change in management, Jain’s resignation still comes as a surprise. Less than three weeks ago, Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board granted him more power, giving him direct responsibility for a reorganization plan intended to simplify the bank, save 3.5 billion euros ($ 3.9 billion) annually and produce a profit equal to at least 10 percent of the capital invested.
A person with knowledge of the situation said that, although he had been under pressure from shareholders, Jain was leaving of his own volition. He will not collect a 15 million euro severance payment he would have received if he had been fired, the person said.
Jain, who was born in India and earned an MBA at the University of Massachusetts, has worked at Deutsche Bank for 20 years and played a major role in establishing the bank as a force on Wall Street and a credible rival to U.S. investment banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
But since becoming co-chief executive in 2012, Jain had faced questions about whether someone so closely identified with the investment banking unit was the right person to deal with serious accusations of wrongdoing. The misconduct at Deutsche Bank has almost always stemmed from activities at the investment banking unit.
In April, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $ 2.5 billion to the United States and British authorities to settle accusations that some employees had conspired to rig benchmark interest rates. While Jain was not accused of taking part in the conspiracy, some shareholders said he handled the investigation and settlement badly.
The fine was more than other banks paid in the same case, reflecting what the authorities said was foot-dragging by Deutsche Bank in providing information to investigators.
The bank has also faced criticism from U.S. regulators. In late 2013, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York sent a letter to Deutsche Bank directing it to fix long-standing deficiencies in its financial reporting procedures.
Cryan, 54, is a member of Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board, a part-time post. But he has never held an executive position at the bank, and therefore will be untainted by past misconduct.
Cryan’s lack of a personal history with the investment banking unit may lead to speculation that Deutsche Bank will follow other European banks like UBS, Credit Suisse and Barclays and scale back its investment banking activities.
Investment banking has become less profitable because of pressure from regulators keen on avoiding another financial crisis. Banks are being required to reduce their dependence on borrowed money, which makes many investment banking activities less profitable.
Cryan will be co-chief executive with Fitschen until next year, then become sole chief executive, the bank said.
Paul Achleitner, the chairman of the Deutsche Bank supervisory board, said in a statement that the decision by Jain and Fitschen to step down “demonstrates impressively their attitude of putting the bank’s interests ahead of their own.”
“Anshu has earned a place in our bank’s history as an executive who helped to transform Deutsche Bank into the global leader, rooted in Germany, that it is today,” Achleitner said.
Jain said in a statement: “I will be forever honored to have served here, and I am convinced that the future of the bank is bright and in very good hands.”
Partly because of the $ 2.5 billion settlement, Deutsche Bank’s profit in the first three months of the year sank by about half, to 559 million euros from 1.1 billion euros a year earlier. Legal costs more than offset a 24 percent increase in quarterly revenue, to 10.4 billion euros.
As part of a reorganization announced in April, Deutsche Bank plans to sell its Postbank unit, which provides banking services primarily to German individuals. Deutsche Bank will also shrink its investment bank, while trying to remain in the same league as its big American rivals.
A decision by Cryan to further trim the investment bank could please regulators who have been critical of Deutsche Bank’s heavy dependence on borrowed money. But a diminished Deutsche Bank would also raise concerns in the rest of the world that the American investment banks would become even more dominant, with no serious rivals outside the United States.