Deutsche Bank CEO willing to give up investment bank oversight role
Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing, is willing to give up his role overseeing the investment bank in the foreseeable future, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Friday, a move likely to reassure regulators.
Germany’s biggest bank is one of the few major banks in the world to assign day-to-day oversight of investment banking to its chief executive. At most banks, other board members oversee the division.
The person, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sewing never intended to permanently keep this role that he had added to his duties in a management overhaul in 2019.
Deutsche Bank and its regulators, the European Central Bank and BaFin, declined to comment.
Reuters reported in January that Sewing was under pressure from regulators to relinquish day-to-day oversight of the investment bank. Regulators are worried that Sewing has too much on his plate, potentially leaving the investment bank open to operational hazards.
Handelsblatt reported earlier on Friday that there is movement on the topic of the Sewing’s dual role.
The investment bank is the German lender’s main profit driver, but also represents a concentration of risk for a bank that is deemed “systemically important” in terms of the functioning of the global financial system.
