18,000 jobs in Deutsche Bank are set to be cut as the German national lender embarks on mass retrenchment exercise. Whole teams at the bank’s Asia-Pacific offices have reportedly been let go, as the lender seeks to transform itself from an investment bank that used to compete with the lenders in Wall Street, after struggling in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Deutsche Bank employs about 4,700 employees in its Asia-Pacific offices in Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Hong Kong. The investment banking team in the region consists about 300 staff members and it is expected that 10 to 15 per cent of these employees and almost all the employees in the equity capital markets division will be retrenched.
According to Reuters, the restructuring plan will ultimately cost 7.4 billion euros (SGD $11.31 billion) and will see the bank cut back on its fixed income operations and axe its global equities business altogether.
Most of those retrenched are working in the bank’s offices in Europe and the United States but some offices from Sydney to Hong Kong were also affected. Retrenched workers are due to sign redundancy packages.
One Deutsche bank employee, a equities trader based in the Hong Kong office who declined to be named, told Reuters that staff were called individually to meetings and that the mood was “pretty gloomy” as the job cuts began. He said: “(There are a) couple of rounds of chats with HR and then they give you this packet and you are out of the building.”
While a Deutsche Bank spokeswoman declined to comment on specific departures, an insider who is familiar with the bank’s Australian operations told Reuters that most of the mergers and acquisitions staff would not be immediately affected but the teams in the four-strong equity capital markets were being retrenched.
The Deutsche bank spokeswoman assured the press that the bank would be directly in touch with employees. She added: “We understand these changes affect people’s lives profoundly and we will do whatever we can to be as responsible and sensitive as possible implementing these changes.”
Deutsche Bank’s Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing called the retrenchment exercise part of a “restart.” In a letter to employees, he wrote: “We are creating a bank that will be more profitable, leaner, more innovative and more resilient.”
This “restart” comes on the heels of Deutsche Bank’s failure to merge with its rival Commerzbank. In May, Mr Sewing hinted at extensive restructuring as he promised shareholders that he will implement “tough cutbacks” to the investment bank.
https://theindependent.sg.sg/potential-collapse-of-deutsche-bank-could-trigger-an-economic-catastrophe/