Deutsche Bank Tackles Ackermann Legacy In Strategy Revamp

Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) co-Chief Executive Officers Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen, less than four months after taking over from Josef Ackermann, may be preparing the largest revamp at Europe’s biggest bank in eight years.

The leaders, scheduled to present their strategy for the Frankfurt-based lender on Sept. 11, are poised to explain how Deutsche Bank plans to increase capital without tapping shareholders, overcome interbank lending probes and cut costs by 3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) as revenues slump.

The co-CEOs join peers from UBS AG (UBSN) to Nomura Holdings Inc. in revamping their business as stricter capital rules make some operations unprofitable and Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis drags on. Their task is complicated by legal probes and a compensation system that’s losing credibility amid bank bailouts and diminished profits.

“This will be the biggest overhaul since 2004,” said Christopher Wheeler, a Mediobanca SpA (MB) analyst in London with the equivalent of a sell rating on the shares. “The risks are many and varied.”

Margin pressure and higher capital requirements have become “the new normal” for Europe’s banks as the crisis curbs client activity and competition increases, Fitschen, 64, said at a Frankfurt conference last week.

Bloomberg