Reports
Deutsche Slashes Equities Jobs Amid Cost-Cutting

The changes don't affect the wealth management business. The bank is embarking on a push to slash leverage exposure.
Deutsche Bank
is shrinking its equity sales and trading business, cutting
headcount by about a quarter, with full-time equivalent posts
falling to less than 90,000 from 97,000. The announcement made no
reference to the German lender’s wealth management arm.
In cash equities, the Frankfurt-listed group said it will
concentrate on electronic solutions and its most significant
clients globally. In prime finance, the bank will reduce leverage
exposure by a quarter, equivalent to a reduction of approximately
€50 billion ($58.6 billion), it said in a statement today.
The cuts will cut leverage exposure in the corporate and
investment bank of more than €100 billion. This is about 10 per
cent of the €1.050 trillion of leverage exposure reported at the
end of the first quarter of 2018. The majority of this reduction
is expected to be achieved by the end of this year, it
said.
The cuts come as the new leadership of Deutsche Bank takes the
helm. A few weeks ago, Christian Sewing became chief executive,
replacing John Cryan after his turnaround plan for the bank
failed to satisfy shareholders. In April, Frank Kuhnke was named
as its new chief operating officer, replacing Kim Hammond, who
left the bank.
The bank has, meanwhile, been upbeat about its wealth management arm's future. Sewing, speaking at the bank's recent annual meeting, said: "In Germany, Europe and Asia, in the Middle East and America, we’re confident of revenue growth. Today we have more than 200 billion euros under management, and revenues in 2017 were around two billion euros. The market is growing as wealth increases and we have the excellence to participate in that. In many countries, we’ll hire new advisers in a focused manner – while cutting back in other areas, for example through the integration of our private bank in Cologne, Sal. Oppenheim...as far as our private and commercial bank is concerned, I am very optimistic.”