Back in the first decade of this millennium, German banking behemoth Deutsche Bank had decided to expand aggressively in the different market all over the world and managed to become a major player in a range of markets. However, the financial crisis saw the bank making massive losses and from then on, it has been an uphill task for Deutsche Bank to return to its former glories. After struggling to turn the business around and generating substantial profits consistently for the past years, Deutsche Bank has finally decided to completely overhaul its business.
The entire restructuring process is going to cost billions of dollars and lead to loss of jobs for thousands of people across the world. It is now being reported that the bank’s equity businesses based out of Asia could prove to be one of the bigger casualties in this restructuring. Deutsche is looking to close the majority of its equity businesses in Asia and needless to say, there are going to be plenty of job losses as well. The equity businesses, which include trading facilities, consultancy, and research, are going to be phased out soon in Asia. In addition to that, the bank has also decided against being the underwriter in any initial public offerings that take place in Asia from now on. Around 50% of the employees who work in these businesses in Asia are expected to be let go immediately, while the rest would be phased out later on in the year.
The restricting is by the bank’s Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing and it is believed that he is determined to implement a plan that is going to phase out businesses in which the bank has struggled to make profits. The equities division is a case in point and there is speculation that the Europe based equity trading businesses could also be closed down as part of this reorganization. Last but not the least, it is important to note that the German government had stepped in earlier this year to broker a merger between Deutsche Bank and rivals Commerzbank earlier this year. Although the deal broke down, there is no doubt that Deutsche had been nudged to consider options.